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Drop The Hammer - Rapier Team
Date: 8 March 2011, 3:32 am
1352 Hours, 16 August 2552 (Military Calendar) --
UNSC Stone Cold -- on station in the Sinclaris System
Commander Lauren Jane was not amused. Around her, on the bridge of her 'new' destroyer the UNSC Stone Cold, her crew remained silent as they manned their stations. Her lack of amusement was not their fault, a fact that they knew, but when the captain of a destroyer chose to be angry at her orders, it was generally best to just keep your fool mouth shut. "Do we have anything on comms, Mr. Li?" She at least tried to keep the snap out of her voice.
"No ma'am, the sector is quiet as a tomb." Lauren nodded at Li's prompt response and allowed herself a brief smile. Even if the ship was being wasted, at least the crew was solid.
"Sensors, Ms. Everett?"
"Nothing ma'am." Lauren fought the urge to sigh. She stood and paced the deck instead. She was antsy and impatient, but she didn't know why. Yes, it was annoying to be given a captaincy aboard one of the UNSC's dwindling number of destroyers, and then sent on what amounted to a wild goose chase for insurrectionists of all things. Surely there were more important things for a destroyer to be doing, especially with the Covenant moving around and kicking down every human owned door they could find. Her fists clenched and unclenched at the very thought that every moment they wasted here, was a moment they weren't helping to stop the Covenant from glassing another world.
The only problem with that thought was that she knew it wasn't the real issue. One didn't rise as high as she had because they got angry at the occasional crap assignment. So what was the issue? Was it the group of five army warrant officers in her ship's hold? They'd been quietly added on at the last second, complete with orders to not bother them, unless the situation demanded it, or to ask questions. Lauren had known what they were even before her XO had commented on the weird vibe he got from them, and the strange way they communicated without talking: Spartans.
However, when thought about logically, Lauren had to admit that they weren't the problem either. The problem was the nagging feeling in the pit of her stomach that something was about to go horribly wrong. Something was going to go horribly wrong, and there wasn't a damn thing she'd be able to do about it.
"Ma'am, I'm picking something up. There's a slipspace anomaly on baring three-seven delta." Everett's voice was cool and collected, and for the second time in as many minutes Lauren gave a silent thank you for a capable bridge crew.
"Put it on screen." Lauren reclaimed her seat and looked to the main view screen just as the image changed to the long range scanners. The crew watched as what was empty space suddenly warped and shifted before depositing a lone, if old and heavily scarred, frigate into the system. "Identify that vessel." Lauren relaxed back into the captain's chair. There was something odd about the frigate.
"Record match found. Ship identified as the UNSC Drop The Hammer. She was stolen nearly thirty years ago by insurrectionist forces, ma'am."
"Further slipspace disruptions detected! Covenant vessels in system, pursuing the Drop the Hammer!"
Lauren watched on the screen as the three Covenant vessels dropped out of slipspace and almost immediately moved into attack positions on the stolen frigate. The frigate responded the only way it could; it ran for the nearest planet.
"Orders, ma'am?"
"We stay still. Our orders were to destroy any insurrectionist activity in the area, and it looks like the Covenant are going to do that for us." She didn't like the order, but her responsibility was to her crew. Even with a destroyer, the odds against three covenant ships was essentially suicide.
"You have, of course, considered the possibility that the covenant are after the frigate's navigational databases, right dearie? Insurrectionists are notoriously lazy about such things, and not known to heed the Cole Protocol." The ship's AI appeared as the voice spoke. Positioned as Lauren was in her chair, the AI appeared to be looking down on her. Fitting, considering the appearance this ship's AI had chosen to take.
"No Granny, I hadn't." Lauren almost growled the response. She shouldn't have needed an AI to remind her of such basic details. "Warm the reactors, I want full speed forward. Cook the engines if you have to, but we need to get there on time. Helm, set an intercept course for those Covenant bastards that will also give us a slingshot vector around the planet. Weapons, start charging the MAC guns and remove the safeties on one of the shiva-nukes. Prepare to remove the safeties on all archer missile pods." A chorus of acknowledgments came from her crew.
"Is there anything I can do to help, dearie?" The AI couldn't know how ridiculous it looked, dressed like an English nanny from the mid-20th century while offering to help in space combat.
"Granny, I need you to calculate when and how to drop that nuke so it drifts into the covenant vessels by the time we come back around the planet." Lauren looked back to the screen. Her maneuver wasn't original, but hopefully it was a rare enough gambit that the Covenant wouldn't know what hit them. On the screen, the covenant vessels bombarded the fleeing frigate's engines. One of the impacts rocked the frigate heavily, melting off the main thrusters and sending the ship hurtling towards the planet.
"Stolen frigate will be in atmosphere before we arrive. I suggest you deploy ground forces to neutralize vital data, while you handle the naval battle." The lack of the usual endearment was unsettling, but the advice was sound, if un-needed.
"Agreed. Get the ODSTs and our special guests to the pods. We'll launch them as we near the planet. If we succeed, we'll pick them back up after. If not, we'll at least have two chances at keeping the data out of Covenant hands."
"Relaying commands. The troops are on their way to the pods, dear. Further orders?"
"Yes. Granny, initiate all procedures in accordance with the Cole Protocol, wipe our own navigation databases, and get me the telemetry for that nuke."
"Acknowledged. Preparing drop telemetry. All hands, prepare to perform Keyes Loop!"
Lauren let her fingers splay out over the command chair's arm rest. The feeling in the pit of her stomach was stronger than ever.
The Opening Salvo - Rapier Team
Date: 12 March 2011, 11:16 pm
1414 Hours, 16 August 2552 (Military Calendar) --
UNSC Stone Cold -- Engaging Covenant forces in the Sinclaris System
The air of excitement about Melissa-G106 as she stored her gear and pulled herself into the SOEIV was palpable. The feeling that her very existence was about to be vindicated was hard to fight, and if not for the years of training, or the presence of the rest of her team, she didn't think she'd be able to maintain the air of professionalism expected of her.
The hatch of the HEV sealed itself and robbed Melissa of what little wiggle room she had had. The pods had been designed for ODST gear; not the SPI armor and extra equipment that Spartans carried. Thankfully, if her years on Onyx had taught her anything, it was just how much discomfort could be endured when a mission was on the line. By the time the pod had gone through its initial power cycle, she barely even noticed how cramped the space was.
"Listen up Rapier Team. I've just received the mission specs from the ship AI. Roughly ten minutes ago, the stolen UNSC Frigate Drop The Hammer had her engines disabled by a Covenant ship and crashed through the atmosphere of Sinclaris Five. It is the belief of the AI and Captain of this ship that the insurrectionist crew can not be trusted to maintain the Cole Protocol; so we are being sent in. We'll deploy with several squads of ODSTs, and our mission is simple: find the frigate, and destroy all navigation data on board. Questions?" On her heads up display, Melissa watched the four red acknowledgment lights flicker as everyone responded to Mark's briefing. "Good. Jamie, I want you scouting once we're on the ground, and giving us long range cover. Melissa, you're with Erik covering our rear. David, you're with me." Four green acknowledgment lights responded.
A buzz alerted Melissa to the imminent deployment The countdown timer appeared on her HUD: thirty seconds until drop. The Stone Cold's bottom bay doors pulled back, and lit the bay with the reflected light off the planet below. Fifteen seconds. The rack of pods lowered in preparation. The final safeties released with a loud mechanical clunk. Five seconds and Melissa firmly gripped the hand-holds in the pod. The inside of her pod chimed, and then, with a sound much like an assault rifle firing, the pods shot out of the ship.
As the pod cleared the bay, Melissa got her first view of the battle. The Stone Cold raced towards the three covenant craft, using its speed and emergency thrusters to avoid the worst of the incoming plasma. Two of the covenant ships moved to intercept the charging destroyer; the third positioned itself to deploy its own drop ships.
The Stone Cold rotated as it raced towards the Covenant ships. Melissa wondered what it was doing, but found the growing lights on the third Covenant vessel far more interesting. Her heart skipped a beat as realization sunk in. "Incoming fire! Brace yourselves!" The words were barely past her lips when the lance of plasma swept across the HEVs' flight path.
Melissa's hands moved on instinct. She pulled at the controls in a desperate attempt to maneuver. The teardrop shaped pod twisted and rolled in the atmosphere. The inside of the pod heated up from the air friction and near miss of plasma shot and the resulting turbulence sent the pod careening wildly out of control. Melissa was suddenly thankful for the lack of wiggle room; lodged as she was in the crash seat, she didn't have the room to be banged around too much. It kept her conscious long enough to see the Stone Cold return fire along the Covenant's drop path, effectively returning the favor while providing momentary cover.
"Pod 12, you're on a collision course! Break left!" The panicked words came through the pod's speakers a bare moment before Melissa felt the impact. She hadn't had time to grab the controls. With the pod bouncing and jumping in turbulence. She was powerless to do anything but hold on and hope the pod would hold out long enough to get her to the ground. Preferably in a single, still functioning piece.
"All pods away."
"Covenant deploying more drop ships."
"Emergency Thrusters at 75% and dropping."
"MAC at 100% Charge!"
That was the report Lauren had been waiting for. Power had had to be redirected from the MAC to rotate the ship fast enough and take out the first wave of Covenant drop ships. It hadn't been much power, but the thirty seconds it took the capacitors to recharge had been harrowing to say the least. They were almost in knife fighting range with the covenant. Not the best time to try for the main gun, but they needed to take out one of the three Covenant ships on this pass or it was all over.
"Mr. Merchison, I want a firing solution on the outside Covenant ship. Set the rounds to hit three seconds apart. Mr. Karas, prepare for port side emergency thrust. We're going to open a door."
"Aye, ma'am!" Both men replied in unison. Lauren took a cleansing breath as quietly as she could. Three-on-One was the odds that humanity seemed to need to even break even in a naval battle. Only Admiral Cole and Captain Keyes had ever won with less, and last Lauren had checked, she was neither of those men. All she could do was gamble on the ideas of those better than she, and do her best to maintain composure for her crew. She hoped none of them noticed the white knuckled grip she had on the captain's chair arm rests.
"Firing solution online."
"Seven seconds until we're passing the Covenant ships."
"Fire!" The destroyer shuddered as the two heavy slugs attained hyper velocity and left the ship. They were so close that the first round was on target before the second had even fully cleared the barrel. The Covenant shields crackled, sparked, and broke under the weight of the first shot. The second impacted seconds later, crushing and pulling part of the outer hull with it as it went in one end and out the other end. Combined, the impacts had more than enough force to over power the Covenant engines, and send it spiralling backwards.
"Impact in six seconds!" Karas's voice cracked with tension.
Lauren hesitated one more second. "Emergency thrust, now!" Everyone on the bridge lurched to one side as the chemical thrusters on the port side of the ship fired all at once. Lauren braced and waited for the sound of super-structure on super-structure that never came. They'd cleared the Covenant vessel. Several people on the bridge cheered as the revelation hit them; Lauren let out the breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding.
"Not to ruin the mood, dears, but the Covenant ship detected and neutralized the trailing nuke." Granny's voice, calm and cheery as it was, had never been more unwelcome.
"But without the nuke-" Merchison silenced himself with a sheepish glance towards the Captain's chair.
"Orders, Ma'am?"
Lauren sighed and stood up. She didn't have time for any other choice. "Mr. Karas, adjust course so we break orbit and wrap around the moon. Mr. Merchison, remove safeties on archer missile pods B, C, D, and E from rows seventeen to twenty five. Target both Covenant ships, fifty-fifty spread and fire as soon as you have the solution. Mr. Li, open a broadcast channel. Tell them that we are the students of Preston Cole. Tell them that we laugh at the ineffectiveness of their so called ships, and look forward to ripping them apart piece by piece. Tell them that unless they are ready to be slaughtered to a man, that they should leave this system immediately."
"Ma'am?" Li seemed confused.
"Do it Mr. Li, be as creative and insulting as you can be."
"Aye, ma'am." A few moments passed with only Karas and Merchison's acknowledgments and status updates to break the silence. "Message away."
"Good."
"Ma'am, sensors show both Covenant vessels turning and taking up pursuit courses." Everett reported.
Lauren let out a breath and looked to the AI. Granny returned the look and gave a knowing nod. Good, Lauren could relax and focus on her ship and her crew. Granny would make sure what needed to be done was done. Lauren allowed herself a last look at the planet as it raced by. She hoped the Spartans were everything they'd been advertised to be.
1506 Hours, 16 August 2552 (Military Calendar) -- Sinclaris Five, Surface
David's eyes snapped open. He had always been quick to wake; a fact that had saved him from many a potentially embarrassing moment during training. This time however, as the pain suddenly settled across his entire body, he wasn't sure how much of a blessing it was. His mind raced as he tried to piece together where he was. He remembered the claxons, the briefing in the pods, and the excitement of the first mission. The light from the Covenant ship had been blinding, and the near miss his pod had taken had been enough to send him wildly off course. He'd watched as the second shot of plasma had neatly cut through several of the pods, outright destroying some and scattering the rest. Somehow he'd managed to survive. The pod had held, and brought him to the ground in one functional piece, if not completely intact.
David pulled the handle to blow the door. It barely moved in response; the near miss must have fried the circuits. With limited options, David shifted around as best he could inside the pod's cramped space, and set both feet against the door. He braced himself against the crash seat, and shoved with all of his might. The door resisted, creaked, and then popped open as the damaged seals gave way to augmented Spartan strength.
A minute later, and David was free of the pod with his gear re-shouldered. He took a moment to get his bearings in the hilly, dusty, and rocky terrain, while his suit finished running diagnostics. The photo-reactive lenses were still operational, as was the visor polarity. Comms were having a hard time connecting to anything; meaning they were either damaged or the planet was doing something wonky to them. Without comms, he didn't have navigation, and that meant he didn't know where he was. Which, ultimately, meant that his best bet was the plumes of smoke and dust off to the west.
The diagnostic done, David checked the rounds in his shotgun and pistol before activating the camouflage on his SPI armor. He didn't have any time to waste.
It wasn't the first time in her life that Melissa was glad she was as tall as she was. At just under 1.78 meters, she was tall for a female - especially considering her age, - and as a woman, she thought her height might pose a problem. As a Spartan, however, it came in handy more often than not. Like right now, where it meant she was tall enough to be able to climb back into her crashed HEV to reclaim her gear. She still didn't know how she'd ended up outside in the first place, just that she'd woken up on the ground with her armor's photo-reactive camouflage keeping her hidden, and her pod sticking out of what had been a sheer wall over head.
If she had to guess, she figured that part of her armor had caught on the door release lever and blown it open when the pod stopped moving. From there, gravity and luck broke the restraints and dropped her onto the ground. All things considered, she was lucky she was still breathing, let alone functional. Her luck continued to hold as she pulled herself back inside the pod, and pulled the bag containing her gear out. The bag, and more importantly the boxes inside, had come through the crash intact. She lowered, then dropped, the bag to the ground below. Next, she freed the MA5K Carbine from the clips inside the pod, and dropped down into a crouch over her gear.
As her feet touched the ground, Melissa froze; she wasn't alone. Melissa's thumb slowly and silently clicked the safety on the carbine off as she scanned the area around her. She stayed low, and moved as slow as she could. Fast movements could compromise the camouflage after all. A two-tone whistle sounded behind her, and Melissa relaxed. She repeated the tone in reverse and looked to her left as the other Spartan, David, came out of hiding.
Melissa shut her own cloak off, and drew two fingers across her visor in their version of a smile. David returned the gesture. "Are you hurt?" She asked despite already knowing the answer. Unless he wasn't functional David would say no, and if he wasn't functional he wouldn't be standing here with her. Still, it didn't hurt to ask.
"No," The expected answer came faster than she'd thought it would; a good sign.
Melissa turned back to the bag on the ground - David immediately went into overwatch - and opened it. She pulled an M7 sub-machine gun out of the bag, checked the magazine, and set it on the magnetic holster on her right thigh before giving the other packages a cursory once over. It wouldn't do to be carrying unsecured explosives.
"Don't suppose your comms are working any better than mine?" Melissa asked while shifting the packages around in the bag for a better arrangement. She re-secured the bag and set it against her back. A light clicked on her HUD as the armor made the proper connection to the bag's matching photo-reactive covering. David's light on her HUD clicked red, and she looked back up to him. Comms weren't broken, just heavily curtailed. "So, which way do we go then?" David jerked his thumb towards the west, and the rising plumes of smoke. Melissa nodded and reactivated her camouflage. The two Spartans headed west.
Once found, it was easy to follow the trail of the stolen frigate Drop The Hammer. The ship had dug a ravine, wide and scorched, as it skipped across the surface of the planet; and while Melissa still couldn't see the main body of the downed ship, it was reassuring to know they were on the right trail. Neither she nor David wanted their first mission to be a loss. Especially not with navigation data as the prize.
The Spartans had made good time from her crashed pod, but had had to slow down once they'd entered the debris field from the crashed ship. On the plus side, the debris provided a lot of cover as the Spartans moved through it. So far, none of the pieces, even the larger ones, had actually held anything resembling a memory bank, but they weren't taking chances. Everything got a quick visual scan as the two made their way through with the speed and grace of a hunting cat on the prowl.
The ground looked like a broken combination of a grave yard for space ships and a battlefield. Bodies littered the ground; insurrectionist crew members who had died on impact - or before - if they were lucky, and from having momentum and debris drag them along the rocky ground if they weren't.
With her back pressed against a piece of ship siding, Melissa was about to make her next move when David's blinking acknowledgment light stopped her. She looked to his last position, and he made a sharp gesture to help her find him despite the camouflage. With her eyes settled, she could make out the faint details of his outline and clicked her acknowledgment light. His hand moved up to his eyes, then he gestured the direction she was about to go before giving the sign for enemies. She clicked her acknowledgment light again, and prepared to move.
The sky suddenly became unnaturally bright. As if a second son had joined the first in illuminating the day. The source, a large blue comet of glowing plasma, wasn't hard to find. It took a second for Melissa to guess the trajectory and another to get moving out of the blast radius. "Incoming!" She dove over another piece of ship siding as the mortar hit behind her. The blast shook the ground, and the surge of energy played havoc with her camouflage, but other than that left her unharmed.
It wasn't until after she hit the ground that Melissa realized the danger. As she rolled over her shoulder and back onto to her feet, she came face to face with a surprised looking elite. The creature towered over her. Its arms moved out to the side as it screamed a challenge in her face. Even through her armor she felt more than saw the energy blade pop open.
Melissa's training took over. As the elite pulled its fist back to swing with the sword, her boot thrust forward, hard and fast. The blow caught the elite just below its hips. Its shields shimmered and held, but the kick still froze the elite's motions. Melissa used the opening to lunge to the side, rolling while tracking the elite with the barrel of her MA5K. Her finger pulled the trigger before she'd even stopped moving. The gun kicked as it sprayed the elite with a hail of bullets.
Both the assault rifle and the elite's shield ran out at the same time. The elite chuckled as it watched Melissa with its predatory gaze. At this distance, it would barely take a second for the elite to close and get her with the sword. It would take nearly two seconds to reload the rifle and shoot. Just like that, the fight had been decided. Melissa let the gun drop.
The elite roared in triumph as it charged. Melissa's hand snapped down, twisted the M7 off her thigh, and fired a single controlled burst. The bullets slipped through the elite's mandibles, bypassed the pretty red armor it was wearing, and impacted into the top of the alien's skull.
Melissa scooped up her assault rifle, and was off running to new cover before the alien had hit the ground. More Covenant were coming, and, in this sort of environment, being stationary was the same thing as being dead.
Battle Lines - Rapier Team
Date: 19 March 2011, 10:12 pm
1603 Hours, 16 August 2552 (Military Calendar) -- Sinclaris Five Surface
Jamie slowly crept through the sea of Covenant dead around the four drop pods. Behind him, he could hear Mark and Erik as they made similar progress. The three Spartans had been scattered during the drop, and had only managed to join back together ten minutes ago. Jamie had assumed that all the pods had scattered, but apparently at least four of the ODSTs had been good enough to stick together and land in some semblance of a formation. Not that it had done them any good.
From the look of things, the Covenant had hit almost as soon as the pods landed. The shell casings and dead bodies that littered the ground around the pods were a testament to how hard the four troopers had fought before finally going down. Near the end, the fighting had gotten messy, personal. The closest ODST to Jamie had gone down with a line of needles up her body, the last one penetrated her visor; for some reason the super-combine explosion had never triggered. The second trooper had been just a hair too late in avoiding a grunt suicide bomber. The resultant blast had cleared the way for an elite to get in at the backs of the last two in a successful, if suicidal, charge. It hadn't been an ideal situation, but Jamie had to give it to the Helljumpers: they'd given much worse than they'd received.
Mark's acknowledgment light pulsed amber. Jamie clicked his green light back, and took up overwatch. Under Jamie's cover, Mark and Erik quickly policed the remaining ammunition and supplies. The Helljumpers had burned through most of their ammo, but not all of it. Several magazines of MA5 ammunition, a couple jackhammers, three pistol mags, and four mags of SRS-99C ammunition were recovered before the Spartans continued on mission. As they left, Jamie made a mental note of the drop site's location. Once they'd won, someone would want to know where the ODSTs had fallen.
Erik stood as still as a statue behind the rocky outcropping. Progress had been slow since the ODST crash site. It felt like every five steps forward was accompanied by three steps back due to Covenant patrols. At first, Mark had simply ordered them to evade, but the Covenant activity had grown too big to simply be avoided.
"Found the trouble" Jamie's voice came soft and smooth over the comm. The sniper was atop the rocky outcropping, scanning the area to see just what the Covenant were up to. "We're near the debris trail. Looks like someone is giving the Covenant one hell of a fight there too. Three groups are moving in to flank whoever it is; two to the north and one to the south."
"We'll take the north and buy our friends some time." Mark said, and immediately headed out. Erik heard more than saw the stealthy sniper drop off the outcropping and take up his position behind and to Mark's right. He gave the pair a thirty second lead before moving out of cover to follow and catch up.
Moving at speed, it didn't take long for the trio to find and catch up to their quarry. Mark flashed a hand signal and Jamie vanished off to one side to set up. Another hand signal and Erik pulsed his green acknowledgment light. He'd been waiting for a chance to use the jackhammers.
The Covenant never knew what hit them. One moment they were moving along and getting into position to join their allies; the next, a pair of rockets - one for each group - went off in their midst. Those that weren't outright killed were thrown to the ground in a wide arc. Mark's assault rifle filled the air with staccato bursts of sound as he picked off targets with his usual cool precision.
Hit from two angles, and with neither Spartan visible, the Covenant had no choice but to split their fire between where they thought the attacks were coming from. Reloaded rocket launcher between his legs, Erik ducked back to avoid the incoming plasma and needle fire. Next, he pulled two of his grenades and waited for a lull in the firing; it wasn't a long wait.
An elite yelled a warning right before the grenades went off. A second later, Erik heard the unmistakable sound of Jamie's SRS-99C as the sniper performed his trademark rapid fire four shot burst. Mark's assault rifle sounded once, twice more, and then it was over.
The three Spartans took a few seconds to check their respective vectors before signalling the all clear. Mark headed into the center of their ambush, and swiftly policed the salvageable plasma grenades. They were close enough now that, with the 5x zoom built into their helmets at least, they could clearly see the distinctive muzzle flash of UNSC weapons.
Mark gave another hand signal, and the three Spartans headed off to join the fight.
David couldn't keep the smile off of his face. His heart raced. Plasma projectiles came in from all sides. And he finally had permission to really cut loose. He'd never felt so alive in his life.
David had always been fast on his feet, easily the fastest in Gamma company and perhaps even the fastest out of all the Spartans. He'd once overheard CPO Mendez mention that he'd almost broken a record from when Lieutenant Commander Ambrose had been in training. He'd only grown faster since then, and, for the last four minutes, David had put his speed to good use. He'd darted from cover to cover; slipped around behind Jackals, Grunts, and even one Elite; and taken out all targets with extreme prejudice. Through it all, he'd kept tabs on Melissa as the slower Spartan also made her way up the debris strewn ravine. Together, they'd cleared a path and kept moving towards their objective. It was loud, graceless, and had drawn even more Covenant attention than they wanted, but it was the only reason they were still alive.
"Last mag!" Melissa's called over the comm. Her voice had dropped to the usual cool tone she'd always had in training exercises. "Got an Elite here. Stop show boating and get your ass in gear, David!" He was close enough that even without the comm he could hear Melissa swear when her MA5K belched out its last round and died; the elite roared a challenge in response. When David rounded the last bend, it was towering over a knocked-prone Melissa, plasma sword held at the ready. With no time for anything fancy, David opted for direct: he shoulder charged into the back of the Elite.
A near quarter ton of Spartan and armor moving at speed was more than enough to knock the surprised Elite flat onto its face. David shoulder rolled over the Elite, regained his footing, turned, and promptly unloaded a slug from his shotgun into the back of the alien's armored head. The results weren't pretty, but they were satisfying.
Melissa was back on her feet in a second, and together, the two found some breathing room. "What the hell took you so long?" Melissa's voice still kept the cool tone David had grown used to during their missions.
"I was busy showing off. Thought I'd told you that."
"I should've figured, hot dogging jerk."
"Hey, it's not my fault you suck, preachy know-it-all dweeb!" David's grin was briefly more than a predatory smile. Distantly, a part of him recognized that the banter was good. It meant their spirits were still up. Not that he could figure out why their spirits shouldn't be up; they were winning. "So...what do we do?"
"That Wraith still in the area? The one that lost its energy mortar?"
"Yeah, it's on the east side."
"Alright, I need a minute, maybe two; and your shot gun. Think you can buy me the time?" David handed the shotgun over without protest. His eyes turned to the area around them and the Covenant weapons that littered the ground. He felt his grin grow broader.
"Yeah, I can do that."
"Alright, break east on my signal. Try to get as many of them to follow you as possible." Melissa hopped over the hunk of debris she'd been using for cover as soon as she finished speaking. David, for his part, grabbed the small device a dead Jackal had died holding before fast crawling his way back to the elite he'd just killed. This was going to be a lot of fun.
"All you Covenant bastards not ready to take on a real Spartan best run and hide! It's about to get very very bloody!" David yelled the words as loud as he could, then stepped out into the open. His newly acquired energy shield and plasma sword opened with a snap-hiss; the energy fields ran havoc over his photo-reactive camouflage, shutting it shut off moments before overload. He wondered if any Spartan had ever looked more the part than he did right now. "Ready or not, here I come!"
Melissa risked a glance back towards David. The other Spartan had always been good in close. So much so that the drill instructors had often had him train with Tom or Lucy for hand to hand combat, rather than risk the injury to one of the other trainees. David even claimed he'd trained with the Lieutenant Commander once, but - he'd admitted wryly - it hadn't been much of a fight. Now, equipped with energy sword and shield, the only word she could find for him was terrifying. He covered himself expertly with the shield, danced around his opponents, and used the sword with quick stabs and small cuts that never left him over extended. In his wake he left more maimed and literally disarmed Covenant than dead; they provided better cover when they were still standing but out of the fight.
Over the noise, Melissa could hear David taunt and cajole his opponents. As more Covenant trained their fire or started to move in his direction, she had to fight the urge to go over and help him. He was buying time for her. It was her job to make sure that it wasn't a wasted effort. Which meant she had to get to work.
Melissa picked through the corpses as she made her way east; careful to stay low and behind cover, even if she was camouflaged. She could see the wraith, her ultimate target, just a little ways off. Melissa still didn't understand the lucky break that had put a plasma grenade on the energy mortar, but she wasn't going to look the gift horse in the mouth now either.
A dead grunt had the last item she needed clutched in its hand, and Melissa got to the 'fun' part of her job. Her 'lucky' roll of duct tape - a constant companion for her on field exercises - was easily pulled from the side pocket on her pack. It only took her a few seconds to carefully apply two long trips, sticky side out, to the small sphere. She attached the other grenades to the tape, and got ready to move. Unbidden memories of the last time she'd tried something like this - a flash bang, a frag grenade, and an oil drum - came back to her. She'd been blinded and hospitalized for nearly a week. It had been stupid curiosity then. This time, it was desperate stupidity. That made it ok, or so she told herself.
The combi-grenade held carefully under one arm, Melissa made her way towards the wraith. "David, five seconds then break east. Acknowledge." No light responded from David. His biosigns were still good - if excited - and her HUD showed no damage to his armor. She looked over in his direction; he was fighting with a pair of elites, both in red armor. The careful and precise strokes from earlier were gone, and even from a distance she could tell he was being baited into a trap. "Break east now, Spartan!" The tone in her voice broke through whatever haze was in his head. David's green light winked on and he immediately broke from the two elites, headed towards her.
David rabbited well. He kept the pursuing Covenant clustered as he led them on a merry chase. Melissa had no doubt that David could have left them all in the dust, but that wouldn't help the Spartans win. The wraith took the bait as well and moved to block David's apparent escape route on the east side. An elite popped the hatch and manned the anti-infantry plasma cannon. Perfect, now she just needed to time it right.
As David neared the east edge of the ravine, Melissa pressed the still exposed button on the center plasma grenade and ran for the wraith. The gunner, fixated on David as he ran past on the other side, didn't notice her until she'd stuffed the large glowing ball into the hole the mortar housing protruded from. By then it was too late, and, despite the elite's roar of protest, Melissa dove off the wraith. Inside her head she counted down the seconds left on the grenade's fuse. She'd misjudged; she wasn't going to clear in time.
The cascading explosions ripped through the wraith. It was spectacular.
Master Sergeant Terrence Johnson - no relation - contained a sigh as he looked at his men. They were good men; he had no doubt of that. Some of them had even been with him for the better part of five years now. That didn't mean they were immune to Covenant plasma and needle rounds though, and while some of his men were veterans; most were as green as could be. The mission was supposed to have been cake. Scare some innies, get the green newbs some experience, and give the vets some on duty rest. If Terry didn't know better, he'd swear that the Covenant were coming for him personally.
The Stone Cold lurched, popped, and banged as she maneuvered. Terry didn't know what exactly the captain had planned, but he was sure it was balls out crazy. Orders had come down to secure all passageways leading to engineering, the bridge, the ships data center, and several other key locations as fast as possible, and then to prepare to repel boarders. That had been nearly an hour ago. An hour of naval maneuvering and peek-a-boo games with two Covenant ships if what Terry had heard was to be believed.
"Door's secured, Sarge." Private Miller reported as he turned the flame off on his welder.
"Same down here, Sarge." Private Dale sounded off a moment later.
"Doors are secure, and the M247H is bolted and ready to rock, Sergeant." Corporal Vaugn gave the final report.
Terry nodded and took the corridor in one more time. There wasn't much in the way of cover aside from what his men had brought in. Good, he had no interest in giving the Covenant so much as a glimpse of a fair fight. "Alright boys, lock and load. You all know the drill: if it's not human, you shoot it until it stops moving. If nothing else is moving, you shoot it again just to be safe. Let's show these bastards how much of a Stone Cold Bitch this ship can be!" The combined 'oorah' was heartening. "Corporal Vaugn, tell the Captain that we're ready for her house guests."
"Engines failing, total shut down in 135 seconds!"
"Hull breach on decks 7 through 15, sections 4A to 7C!"
"There's a fire in engineering, they don't know if they can contain it!"
"Port side Archer Missile Pods are empty or destroyed!"
"Emergency Thrusters down to 5%!"
Commander Jane let the reports wash over her. The last hour had not been kind on her ship, but they were still here. The series of desperate gambit after desperate gambit had taken a toll on the crew, but, again, they were still here. The sacrifice of fuel, armor, weapons, and even crew in some cases had all been worthwhile, when looked at objectively. Despite the costs, they'd managed to destroy another of the Covenant ships with a double barreled MAC salvo that had driven the alien vessel into the moon. Now though, it looked like their luck had just run out.
"Ma'am, all Marine teams have checked in. Key locations are double secured, and they are ready to repel all invaders." Li's voice was a light in the darkness.
"Engines to full stop. Make us look dead, like they just blew on us. Granny, activate a fail safe. Any system you get cut off from destroys itself; rig it as a dead man's switch. Blow the ship if you have to, but try to buy us as much time to win the old fashioned way as you can." Lauren was standing as she gave the orders. Not that she could go anywhere; her and her bridge crew were sealed in as one of the 'key locations' to be protected at all costs. She could hate herself for that later.
The ship darkened as the reactors played dead. The emergency lights kicked in a second later. "Mr. Li, I need your creativity again. I want them to intercept communications from us saying that we're preparing to move our precious cargo from the dig site via a Tier One Security Asset."
Granny appeared on the holographic projector once again. She didn't look happy. "Dear, I've analyzed your probable actions and I must point out that not only are they tantamount to suicide, but also could be viewed as a violation of Cole Protocol Artice 1-5 which states: In case of imminent capture by Covenant ships and boarders-"
"I know what it says, Granny. We're only in violation if we lose and you don't have things rigged to blow like I told you. Otherwise, I am following this course of action to enforce the Cole Protocol. Until we get the all clear from the ground team, assuming they're even still alive, there is nav data at risk. As such, this ship's duty is to live and fight for as long as possible, to win, and to make sure they don't get their damned claws on the location of Earth or any other of our worlds. Understood?" Lauren regretted the edge in her voice as she addressed the AI. She didn't need to think of her teachers for the lectures of how a ship captain should always be in control of herself to come to mind. Still, her words - and the fire behind them - did seem to perk the crew up. They knew what they were fighting for. They knew there was a goal to aim for. It wasn't much, but it was better than aimless desperation.
"Understood dear. Deadman switches are set and active. Any primary or secondary system that is severed from my connection will detonate immediately. The ship will detonate should I be removed, or the data core go offline."
"Thank you, Granny. Keep monitoring for news from the ground team."
David inserted the nozzle into Melissa's back and squeezed the handle. The biofoam injector made a sound like compressed whipped cream as the jar emptied and the wound filled. It had taken Dave the better part of five minutes to dig Melissa out of the wreckage from her explosion. Whatever she had done had set off a chain reaction in the wraith and caused a blast that had obliterated the Covenant chasing him. His back was still sore from the shock wave, but that was nothing compared to the chunk of Wraith that had gone through Melissa.
When the can of biofoam emptied, David sighed and tossed it back over his shoulder; he'd done all he could do for her. He looked around and tried to decide if it was better to leave her here, or bring her with him when he continued on mission. When she woke up, she would be useful to have around, but until then she would just slow him down. Moreover, with as damaged as her armor was, he doubted the camouflage would be much use anymore. It would be best to leave Melissa where she was. She could follow when she woke up, but, until then, David would move faster on his own. Time was of the essence.
He pulled down a large chunk of debris and covered Melissa with it. It would keep her out of sight until she moved or someone went through the pile. David turned to head out, but had to abandon the idea a second later. Another wraith was patrolling the wreckage, and, judging from the increased noise, had just seen him.
David checked his pistol as the wraith approached. He'd lost his sword and shield in the blast, and the shot gun had been irreparably damaged. It wouldn't matter how well armed he was if the wraith decided to simply blast them. He'd have to charge, risk it all on a gamble that gave him and Melissa the best chance of survival. David paused to take a breath and center himself, then straightened at the unexpected two tone that broadcasted from the wraith. He whistled the tone in reverse and breathed a sigh of relief as the hatch on the wraith popped open to show Erik's helmet.
"You made it!" David called out. He scrambled back out from under cover and moved to join his teammates. Jamie appeared at his side; the sniper had been behind cover with rifle at the ready just in case. "Melissa's hurt. I hit her with some biofoam, but she's not conscious yet."
Mark popped the hatch under the assault turret and flashed his acknowledgment light. "Load her onto the wraith. We'll wake her en route. We're about a ten minutes walk from the Drop The Hammer, and, from the sounds of it, the Covenant just found a way in. It's not going to be pretty."
"They wouldn't have sent us if it was going to be, Mark." David felt the start of another grin.
The Stand - Rapier Team
Date: 27 March 2011, 3:27 pm
1643 Hours, 16 August 2552 (Military Calendar) -- Sinclaris Five Surface
Melissa woke with a start. Her body tensed; ears immediately assaulted by the sound of a Wraith on the move. Had it somehow survived her bomb? Had another come along and found her? If so, why wasn't she dead? Her mind raced with the possibilities as she tried to stay still and play dead. She would only have one chance to get out of here.
"Good, you're awake. We were about to go through your pack for the stims." Erik's voice was cheerful as he spoke. "Careful, don't move too fast if you don't have to. Your abdomen is full of biofoam, probably why you're tingling."
"What happened?" Melissa's voice sounded groggy to her. She bit down on her lip and shook her head twice to clear the cobwebs before gently pulling herself into a seated position. Erik was right, she was tingly and her insides felt cold from the biofoam. Erik handed over a bit of reflective glass and Melissa used it to check her wound. It wasn't pretty, but it wouldn't be fatal either. Assuming the biofoam held.
"We're not sure. David says you blew up a wraith, and judging from the fact you still have all your demo charges, we figure you did something incredibly stupid again. Why carry them if you're not going to use them?"
"We might need them later. Besides, they take too long to set up for combat use." Further conversation halted as the Wraith crested a hill and the Drop The Hammer came into view. Three Covenant patrols waited outside the gaping hole that led into the ship, but a downed Spirit meant there were probably even more inside.
"Oscar, you ready to go?" Melissa smiled at her old nickname. It was as close to expressing affection as Mark got on missions.
"Good to go, sir."
"Good. We're going to need you on this. Jamie, spread the ammo out. Erik and Dave, do a quick gear check. I don't want this stuff failing on us when we dive into the hornets' nest. Oscar, turn this wraith into the biggest bomb you can. We're going in hard." Four green lights pulsed in response to Mark's orders. Jamie immediately began to take inventory of the ammunition the group had left while Erik and David got to work on the gear. Melissa pulled the pack off of her back and opened it up while eyeing the wraith. Mark would get his explosion.
"Grenades!" Master Sergeant Johnson's voice was clear, even over the sound of the M247H. The ten marines that still guarded the sealed data core doors responded as one, lobbing and bowling fragmentation grenades down the hall towards the jackal shield wall. The aliens froze in the face of the multi-angled assault. A second later, all ten fragmentation grenades went off as one and the jackals' worries were over.
The corridor was suddenly eerily quiet. No new Covenant troops rounded the corner. No gunfire broke the silence as Terry's marines defended their bottleneck with their lives. It wouldn't last. "Reset the barricades. Anyone who needs ammo, raise your hand with how many mags you need. Davidson, make sure everyone gets what they need. Vaugn, let the Captain know we're still holding, but they're coming in bigger and bigger waves."
The sound of his marines getting to work was reassuring. Terry took the chance to top off his own mags and reload the shotgun at his feet. Truth be told, even crammed in with no way to retreat, Terry preferred this kind of fighting. At least here he had a say in whether he lived or died; a luxury that wasn't present in ship battles. The fact that while the Covenant were actively boarding the Stone Cold they weren't ripping her to pieces with plasma was an additional bonus.
The ship rocked and shook as if struck. Even close to the center of the Stone Cold, Terry could hear the sound of super heated metal being peeled away. Round four was about to begin. "Check your ammo, we've got another round of party crashers coming. Vaugn, get that heavy gun spinning!"
Terry slapped a full mag into his MA5B and shouldered the weapon. He didn't have long to wait before the first grunt rounded the corner.
"All key defensive positions are holding. Compromised defense positions have fallen back and are reinforcing at designated choke points." Everett's voice was still clear. Lauren made a mental note of it. The whole crew would deserve commendations for what she'd put them through, but a few on her bridge - like Ms. Everett - were really going above and beyond.
"Pelican and ODST crew are away. No sign that they've been detected as of yet. They should be able to ride our shadow until they're in the moon's shadow. ETA to package delivery is seven minutes." Mr. Li was also due for a commendation or two.
"Tell the Marines that in seven minutes this should be over." Seven minutes wasn't long in the grand scheme of things, but could be an eternity in combat. Lauren had no doubt that they'd be the longest seven minutes of her life. "We still have some thrust on the port side, Mr. Karas?"
"Yes ma'am. Not much, but we should be able to turn or dodge one more direct shot."
"Good. Mr. Merchison, I want the MACs brought back online, you have six minutes and ten seconds to charge them. Use every second."
"That's going to be hard, ma'am. Engineering is repelling boarders, and the reactors are-"
"Just get it done, Mr. Merchison."
"Aye aye, ma'am."
"Granny, I want you working some math for me. At this range, I need a firing time and solution for every archer missile we have left to hit precisely one second before a MAC round on that Covenant ship."
"Yes dear."
The wraith glided down towards the Covenant around the Drop The Hammer. Erik had rigged the controls well, and aimed it even better. The pilotless wraith moved straight towards the small gap between the patrols; just another Covenant vehicle joining the search. None of the Covenant thought anything strange about it until the Wraith continued on straight towards the Spirit. By then it was too late.
Melissa squeezed the plunger as soon as the wraith moved underneath the Covenant drop ship. The blast was huge. Chunks of wraith scattered and killed everything that had been around the tank. The energy mortar launched straight up and into one of the Spirit's pylons, causing a chain reaction - helped along by other bits of Wraith shrapnel - that detonated the Spirit as well.
With the explosion still booming, the Spartans rushed down the hill. Erik added to the confusion with a pair of jackhammers, fired on the run, into the closest masses of Covenant. The rockets missed their intended targets, but the blast was still enough to drop shields and expose the aliens to the hail of controlled bursts coming from Jamie and Mark's MA5Ks.
As they reached the bottom of the hill, David surged ahead of the group. Melissa watched as he dropped to his knees and slid the last few feet towards the downed frigate. He passed harmlessly under the arc of fire from a pair of elites who'd come back to investigate the noise. David's shot gun sounded once and dropped the right elite in a single blast. The other elite reacted too slowly. By the time it had turned to face David,the Spartan was ready. The butt of David's shot gun came around with enough force to stagger the elite out of the ship and drop its shields. The following shotgun blast tore through the elite's armor and left it a pulped mess on the ground.
The five Spartans joined up at the frigate's entrance. Mark flashed a few hand signals, and the squad broke down into two fire teams: Mark and Erik on the right, Jamie, Melissa, and David on the left. A waypoint appeared on the minimap on Melissa's HUD, the location of the main data core. Four acknowledgment lights pulsed in response and the fire teams split up. They'd join back together at the waypoint, after destroying all sensitive data found on the way up.
David took point and forced open a doorway to bring them into a new corridor. The minimap had already been marked with the locations to check by the Stone Cold's AI. It was a simple matter to plan an efficient route that checked all points on the way to the data core.
Melissa silently raged as Jamie fell into rear guard. Logically, she understood why she was in the middle of the three, but that didn't mean she had to like it. Injured or not, camouflage or no, she could carry her weight. She was still a Spartan. Unfortunately, now wasn't the time to complain. Not during the most dangerous part of the mission.
The three Spartans made good time as they picked their way through the ship. The corridors were a mess, and not just from the crash landing. Whatever the innies had been doing with the ship, they hadn't been taking proper care of it. Melissa frowned at the sight of plasma burns and needle marks in some of the bodies. Had the Covenant shot the dead bodies? Or had some of the crew survived the crash, only to be gunned down by the intruders? Either way, it meant there would be opposition somewhere ahead of them.
David held a hand out to stop Melissa and Jamie at the next doorway. They'd reached their first objective. David ducked his head into the doorway, then held up three fingers on his outstretched hand. Melissa and Jamie clicked their acknowledgment lights and moved up to the door. Jamie and David crept into the room while Melissa covered them from the door. David's hand flashed another signal and Melissa relaxed a little; the three jackals in the room were alone.
The take down was as quick as it was silent. Melissa moved into the room, and gave the terminal the jackals had been studying a quick once over. "Something on here had their attention."
"Blow it, and let's go." David said while checking the next door down. Melissa pulled an explosive strip from her pack and attached it to the terminal's drive and network connector. She punched a twenty second fuse into the strip, then gave Jamie the 'all set' signal before moving to join David at the door. The three Spartans headed back into the corridor towards their next objective. Behind them, the terminal exploded.
Mark slapped a fresh mag into his MA5K, jerked the charging handle, and waited for a lull in the firing. Erik and he hadn't gone far before running into a large group of elites and grunts, and luck hadn't been with them ever since. A grunt had practically run into Erik, and managed to sound an alarm before the Spartan could permanently silence it. They'd been caught in a firefight ever since. About the only bright spot had come at the expense of Erik's last jackhammer. An elite had moved on instinct, dodging the rocket and letting it impact against the terminal they'd been trying to pull data from. Secondary objective achieved, but the elites sure weren't happy about it.
The lull came, and Mark twisted to see around the cover. He quickly took aim, and put an accurate burst through the face and air hoses of the three closest grunts before he ducked back. Something was wrong. "Erik, eyes sharp. One of the elites went missing!"
Erik nodded, fired once through the doorway, and then immediately ducked back behind cover. The blast of two plasma grenades shook the deck a few seconds later. When Mark checked how many Covenant were left he had to smile. The suicide bomber that Erik had killed had taken most of his grunt friends with him.
A shimmer of light ruined the surprise attack. Mark ducked his head just in time to avoid the plasma sword, then turned his MA5K on the cloaked elite. The elite's shields lit up as the remainder of the MA5K's magazine emptied into its stomach. Erik yelled a challenge from the side, and tackled the elite to the ground. A knife flashed in Erik's hand as he wrestled with the elite for control of the grapple. Leverage won out, and Erik repeatedly plunged the knife into the elite's side.
Mark wanted to help his friend, but, with the plasma and needle fire renewing from beyond the door, it would be suicide to even try. He tossed his last grenade through the door and followed it up with a three round burst from his pistol. It bought him enough time to load one of his last three mags into the MA5K. Behind him, Erik finished off the elite with another stab of his knife and moved back into cover.
"He have anything worthwhile on him?" Mark asked between bursts from his assault rifle. He'd always picked his shots carefully, but now he was forced to be down right stingy with his ammo.
"Just the plasma sword. I think they know time's on their side, boss." Erik responded. "Well, and these" He added a moment later and held up two plasma grenades. "Must've forgotten to give them to his friends before coming over to play."
"We really should give them back, don't you think?" Erik visibly nodded. "I'll pin them back behind cover, think you can stick 'em?" Erik's light pulsed green and Mark counted in his head. On three, he pivoted around the door frame and opened up with the carbine. The two elites scrambled for cover from the hail of bullets. One of them was forced to double back and dive towards his friend as Erik's plasma grenade landed right in front of it. It never noticed the second grenade stuck to its back until it was too late. Both elites vanished in a flash of white.
David shouldered his way through the door and kicked the surprised looking grunt in the face. As the grunt fell back he put a pistol round through its brain, then emptied the rest of the magazine into the other four grunts in the room. His shotgun lay empty on the floor somewhere behind him in a pool of jackal blood. They were running out of ammo quick, but they were almost to the data core.
They'd run into more Covenant than expected in the Drop The Hammer. An impossible amount, unless the Stone Cold had been destroyed and the Covenant had sent reinforcements for their troops on the ground. David pushed the thought from his mind; he wasn't going to let the Covenant win, not this time. However, time wasn't on their side. In fact, it was actively working against them.
The only bright spot that David could see was the maps they had of the ship. The covenant had to search the whole wreck for where the data would be stored, the Spartans could go straight to the key points and destroy them. He was fairly sure that, thanks to the map, they were actually ahead of the lead Covenant searcher teams. It would explain why they were only seeing grunts this far; the elites were using them to scout ahead and set off any booby traps. It meant they still had a chance.
"Next stop is the data core; let's move Rapier team." Jamie and Melissa's green lights pulsed, but Melissa's movements were a bit stiff as she applied one of her demolition charges to the terminal and moved to join them. She'd been moving stiffly for a few minutes now. The exertion must have worn away at the biofoam, and due to her injury's location, every movement seemed to be sending lances of pain up her spine. Not that she'd complained once, or even slowed down in a fight, but David had noticed it in the lulls between fighting.
Melissa stopped and looked to him. He got the sense, even through the mirrored visor, that she was daring him to say something. David shook off the concern. She was right, they didn't have time for this.
Melissa whistled the familiar two-tone as she, David, and Jamie approached the data core. She'd taken point after David had paused in the last room; even without seeing his face she knew David was concerned for her, but that just made her press on all the harder. She didn't need them to worry about her slowing them down. Not when her primary job was to make sure they were still able to do theirs.
The two-tone sounded in reverse over the comm. A half second later the door to the data core opened up and Rapier team was whole again. Melissa drew her fingers across her visor in greeting to Erik and Mark. Erik returned the gesture, but Mark merely nodded.
"We don't have much time before more covies show up. How long to secure the data?" Mark's question prompted Melissa to look around. It was definitely the oldest core she'd ever seen. She wasn't even sure you could still call it a 'core' with the computer banks as spread out as they were.
"One minute to do it fast, three minutes to do it right." She responded crisply. She knew without asking which way he'd want it done, and started to set out the charges she had left. "Give or take thirty seconds" she added sheepishly when she saw how little she had left.
"Get it done. Rapier team, we're defending this room for at least the next three minutes. Pick your spots carefully. Jamie, I want ammo evenly distributed."
David stepped up as Jamie collected the loose ammunition for redistribution. "We're going to want the two doors open. We're blind with them shut. Open, we get warning and give Jamie time to use that giant rifle he's been hauling around on his back." David said; his voice had slipped back into an almost cold tone. Mark nodded once, and the Spartan moved to get the job done.
"Contact!" Jamie's warning was followed by the sound of his sniper rifle. Melissa checked the time on her HUD. Not even a minute had passed since she'd started. The next three minutes were going to be rough.
"Ten seconds until package delivery." Granny's voice continued the count down.
"Emergency thrust, line us up with that ship. Fire all Archer Missiles and time the MAC off Granny's firing solution!" Lauren once again found herself standing as she directed her bridge crew. The last six minutes had been painful to sit through. Bad enough to be playing dead, but having to hear the marines on board fight, kill, and die in defense of the vessel while doing so was nearly unbearable.
The Stone Cold, or at least what was left of her, shuddered as the remaining missile pods emptied their contents into space. The missiles arced out wide on their flight paths, filling the space around the last Covenant ship with dozens of twinkling lights. With luck, the Covenant wouldn't notice the single non-archer missile in the cluster.
"MAC firing in 2...1..." there was a bright flash from the alien ship as the Archer missiles and Shiva nuke impacted against the shields. The Stone Cold shifted and lurched backwards as both heavy slugs raced from the front of the destroyer. The nuke had dropped the Covenant shields, leaving only the superstructure to impede the dual ferrous rounds. The shots impacted as one, spinning and crumpling the Covenant vessel as they tore through it from keel to stern.
A cheer went up through the bridge as the Covenant ship exploded. They had done the impossible. Three on one against them, and they were the ones still standing. Lauren felt the tension leave her body all at once and slumped back down into the captain's chair. They were all still alive, but at what cost?
"Ma'am, we've got a message from the ground team. It's patchy, and weak but sounds like they're saying they've done it." Lauren looked towards Li as he spoke.
"Play it for me."
"Yes, ma'am." There was a moment of silence and then the air in the bridge filled with the static filled broadcast:
"Th...is...97. We hav..cured.....data....ently enga... th...nant...force..s. Repeat....secure...arge....pres....n...anet."
The words were gibberish to Lauren, but she could feel her stomach turning from the tone of the Spartan's voice, and the constant presence of gunfire in the background. "Give me a magnified view of that area of the planet."
"On screen now, ma'am"
Lauren's heart missed a beat. The cheer that had filled the bridge just moments ago was replaced by dread. There was a fourth Covenant ship.
"Mark!" Melissa broke cover and ran the short distance, narrowly avoiding being shot herself along the way. She grabbed Mark by the back of his armor, and pulled the downed Spartan back behind the wall. Beside her, David shifted to share his fire between the two doors and keep the Covenant at bay.
"I'm good." Mark said. His voice even sounded fine, and the press of his arm against her chest was strong. Still, Melissa fought him back to the ground.
"Good to hear, now let me hit you with biofoam so you don't fall apart as soon as you stand up." Mark quieted, and Melissa speedily slipped the nozzle into the new hole in his armor before squeezing the handle. Mark would likely need surgery later, but the foam would have to do for now.
"Grenade!" Erik's voice boomed. Melissa moved on instinct, covering Mark's body with her own and shielding him from the blast. Outside, the Covenant guns turned briefly on one of their own. "Not to be a sour apple here guys, but there are a lot of covies on this planet."
"Are the charges set?" Mark sat up without issue this time and checked the ammo on his MA5K. Melissa hesitated a second, she'd announced that nearly a minute ago.
"Primed and ready."
"Alright, Rapier team, against the wall. Oscar, blow it." There wasn't so much as a word of protest as Rapier team pressed themselves against the wall and hunkered down as low as possible. Melissa thumbed the detonator and the ship shook with small explosions. A final, loud boom filled the room seconds before the room bellowed dust and smoke down the Covenant filled corridors.
Melissa coughed as the smoke penetrated her unsealed suit. Outside the room, the Covenant roared in protest. Bolts of plasma and pink needles shot through the smoke and filled the doorway. Melissa chuckled and picked her way to the door. Let them come, the Spartans had already won.
Terry hopped over the dead Covenant and slid back behind cover. His men pushed forward around him; assault rifles and shotguns dispensed death all around. The corridor was a mess, littered with dead bodies, blood, and God alone knew what else, but the fighting was almost done. Terry didn't even want to think about how many had died on this trip, all because some damn innie couldn't have been bothered to wipe his databases on the way down to the planet.
"Johnson, this is Daniels. Perimeter is clear, what's your status?" Daniels was from another ship, the UNSC Savage Strike. The Savage Strike and eight other UNSC ships had jumped in system nearly thirty minutes ago; just in time to save the Stone Cold's ass from the fourth Covenant ship. The nine late comers had come in pursuit of the Drop The Hammer and the original Covenant ships. They'd made short work of the sole remaining vessels, and promptly offered to relieve the Stone Cold in the system. Commander Jane's response had been prompt and to the point: not until her people were off the ground.
Which was how Terry had ended up planet side, picking his way towards the innie ship's data core. Other teams had found and accounted for all of the HEVs. All save five of the deployed troops had also been found. Seven of the ODSTs were still alive, three of which were still on planet helping with mop up operations; the other four were back on their way to the ship, injuries to severe for anything else. The final missing five were presumably holed up on the ship, likely in the data core if the Stone Cold's AI was to be believed.
"Coming up on the Data Core now, Daniels. Hold one." The corridor, doorway, and room that held the data core were a mess. The walls were stained with soot, blood, and plasma scoring. Dead Covenant, weapons, and shell casings littered the ground. The metal had bubbeled and deformed in several places due to the intense heat of plasma grenades and whatever the strike team had used to detonate the navigation center.
Terry carefully moved through the wreckage, MA5B at the ready. His foot brushed against an out of place armored breastplate, causing Terry to halt and check the room once more. The armor looked like a strange combination of ODST gear and what the Spartans in the videos were always wearing. It also seemed to be placed to fill a hole in a pile of debris.
Terry crouched low, and moved forward. He could see a boot behind the unnatural pile of rubble. Another step forward and the full body came into view, as well as a similarly armored figure - a woman from the shape of her - next to whomever was on the ground. The woman had her hands in the soldiers abdomen. Despite the cracks, and even a small hole, in her visor, the woman still wore her helmet.
Terry's weight shifted with a soft crunch as something broke. The woman's response was immediate: a jackal shield sprung to life, covering the body on the ground more than the woman holding it. "Easy soldier, same side! Master Sergeant Terrence Johnson, UNSC Marine Corp, from the Stone Cold."
The shield turned off. "Warrant Officer Melissa G106. Rapier Team." The response was cool, in control.
"Alright ma'am, is your team alive?"
The armored warrant officer nodded, "Mark and Erik need medical attention. I've done what I can for them here, but they'll both need surgery. David and Jamie were knocked out by concussive force from whatever bombed the place. Too close to the wall when it happened."
Terry looked back over the ocean of dead bodies. Five against those odds, and at least three of them had still been standing until the UNSC bombed the hell out of the area? The Marine silently added whoever these five were to his 'do not fuck with' list. "Medics are on the way, ma'am. We'll have your team in a med bay in about seven minutes."
The woman nodded and shifted to sit down. Apparently she had done all she could for her injured comrade. When she moved, Terry noted the gaping hole in the woman's armor, as well as the blood leaking out around what he assumed was biofoam. If the woman noticed, she gave no sign of it. Down the hall a pair of medics appeared. Terry waved them close and helped them set up the stretcher. The woman left with the first stretcher.
Terry shook his head in disbelief. He wondered if she was single.
The next week moved by in a blur for Commander Lauren Jane. Saved from certain death at the last second, the Stone Cold had been given emergency repairs and then escorted to the nearest ship dock. It was there that her crew had been given some well deserved R&R, though the sobering rumors that Reach had fallen put a dampner on whatever joy the crew had received at surviving through the battle.
The debriefings with the admiralty had been strange. The brass couldn't decide if she was to be commended for heroics and pulling off the seemingly impossible, or berated for the reckless way in which she had captained her ship, endangering crew and the very fate of humanity. In the end, an Army officer named Ackerson had saved her - though what he was doing in an admiralty debriefing she'd never found out - pointing out that she had deployed resources accordingly, and done what was necessary to ensure the Covenant didn't find more human colonies than they already had. In short, she'd played to win, and had pulled it off marvelously. Lauren still felt dirty from the way some of the brass had talked about and around her while she was still there.
In the end they had decided to leave her as Commander and as the Captain for the Stone Cold, which would be fit to fly again in a couple of days. The news of her stay of execution, as well as the expedited repair of her ship, had also come with orders bearing Ackerson's name in several places. Among other things, the Stone Cold would become the primary deployment point for Rapier Team, and assigned missions befitting a Spartan strike team against the odds that the Stone Cold and her crew had already shown themselves capable of handling.
As she held the orders and confirmed their veracity, the words her old tactical instructor in the Academy came back to her: You won the battle, make sure it doesn't cost you the war. It wouldn't be long before Jane and her crew would be tested again. The question was, would they be up for it?
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