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The Tides of War by Corbantis
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The Tides of War Part 1 "As the Dust Cleared"
Date: 06 February 2002, 1:42 am
Chapter 1
0653 Hours, August 30, 2552 (Military Calendar) /
Epsilon Eridani System, Reach UNSC Military Complex,
Planet Reach, Delta Wing - Section Three research facility
Dr. Halsey and the last Spartan left alive on REACH, Robert 068, ran deeper into the underground military research center as the Covenant forces began to glass the base. "Hurry Robert, we must get deeper underground before they hit this building!" Yelled Dr. Halsey as she huddled next to an overturned storage locker. Robert was busy shooting at the remaining Covenant forces that were pursuing them. "Affirmative, ma'am!" He lobbed a fragmentation grenade into the focal point of their pursuers, and dived behind the fallen storage locker, just as a loud, resounding "BOOM" shook the hallway. When he looked over the locker, his gun firmly in his grasp, he was relieved that the explosion had killed all their alien pursuers.
He seized Dr. Halsey's arm, "Come on, Dr. Halsey, lets get moving," They continued to run down the hall. Once they reached a freight elevator, Dr. Halsey stopped. "Wait, we should take this elevator, I think it will take us to the lowest levels of the complex," she pressed a button on the elevator keypad and the doors slid open. Just then an explosion sent a tremor through the entire structure, and the walls began to crumble. Robert jumped into the elevator, pulling Dr. Halsey in. He punched the button for the lowest level, and as the elevator descended, the whole complex began to tremble violently. He just hoped that the others had managed to escape.
0800 Hours, August 30, 2552 (Military Calendar) /
UNSC Pillar of Autumn, Unknown Space Region
First Sergeant Daniel O'Connor stretched his stiff arms and, hearing satisfying cracks from his joints, grinned. He figured Captain Keyes must have realized that trying to outrun the Covenant was futile, that's why the Captain had announced everyone should be ready in case of attack. The first Sergeant was a veteran of many battles against the Covenant, and he planned on still being alive even after all this was over. Besides, his squad was counting on him, and he was most definitely not going to let them down. He strolled into the locker room, and headed toward his locker, nodding to the men he knew on the way. He deactivated the lock on the door of the locker; it opened with a slight creaking noise. Daniel pulled out a slightly oversized marine combat suit, the armor on the joints clanged as they rubbed against one another.
Daniel O'Connor was a well built, husky marine in his late twenty's, who had jet-black fuzz for hair because of his military haircut. Due to his bulk, sometimes some marines would ask him if he had ever trained to be an Orbital Drop ship Shock Trooper. He always said no to the question, and he would also add that he never planned on being an ODST, that he was a combat marine all the way. He was glad to get his combat uniform back on, he always felt naked when wearing civilian clothes. Once he had donned his uniform, he checked to make sure his boots were tied tight and his combat helmet's Heads Up Display, which is a small, square computer screen as big as a human eye that sticks out in front of your right eye; it shows tactical data and targeting data to the marine, still works. Once satisfied, Daniel tucked the helmet under his left arm, closed the locker, and headed out of the locker room.
0857 Hours, August 30, 2552 (Military Calendar) /
Covenant Ship Redemption, Epsilon Eridani System,
Planet Reach, High Orbit
Supreme War Master T'soll Vorskray grinned with delight as the last of the pathetic human battle ships was obliterated, the Gods surely smiled upon his forces on this glorious day. Standing nine feet tall, T'soll was basically a head taller than the other Elites and Commander Elites like himself. He wore the traditional gold colored command armor, but because he was the Supreme War Master of the Covenant battle fleets he wore bronze colored shoulder pads to symbolize his rank.
As T'soll observed his battle ships prepare to "cleanse" this human planet, a young Tacticians officer approached T'soll and respectably bowed before his superior. "War Master, I have news of importance to report." T'soll motioned for the officer to rise and report, then he firmly told the officer, "What could be more important than this?" As he waved his hand toward the view port that showed the human planet called REACH. The young Tactician rose upon command. "A lone Human war ship has escaped, sire" T'soll growled deep in is throat out of impatience, his four mouthparts curling into a snarl. "How is this important?" He glared at the officer. The young Tactician almost took a step back in fear. "The Human ship has discovered the Ring World of the Ancients," the officer paused for a second, "we have engaged them but they have taken refuge on the surface of the ring world." The Tactician stared at the War Master.
"They dare defile such sacred ground!" T'soll clenched his fist. "I want them destroyed before they defile the ring any further, return to your station, inform our ships there to do whatever they must to eradicate the infidels." The Tactician bowed again. "Yes, War Master" The officer left, and T'soll turned around to watch the cleansing begin. The infidels will pay for this outrage, he thought, as the human planet began to glow from the plasma bombardment of the surface.
The Tides of War Part 1 "As the Dust Cleared" Chapter 2
Date: 10 February 2002, 5:17 am
Chapter 2
(40 minutes Before the Evacuation of the UNSC ship Pillar of Autumn)
0820 Hours, August 30, 2552 (Military Calendar) /
UNSC Pillar of Autumn, Unknown Space Region
ÝÝÝÝFirst Sergeant Daniel O'Connor was just returning to his squad in the barracks quarters after having a hearty meal in the mess hall when the first klaxons began to sound aboard the Pillar of Autumn. The ship wide comm. system loudspeakers clicked on, and the ship's AI, Cortana, spoke. "Attention all combat personnel. Please report to your aptitude stations." The AI paused, then began to speak again "Fifth Platoon, secure airlocks on Deck Eleven. Fourteenth Platoon, rendezvous with 22nd Tactical at Bulkhead Charlie 14." The AI paused again, then continued, "This is not a drill. I repeat, this is not a drill."
ÝÝÝÝDaniel cursed under his breath, and ran the rest of the way to his squad. "MOVE PEOPLE!" He yelled at his Platoon. "Okay, we're going to double time it to the armory," he paused then added, "Move it Marines, go, Go, GO!" They all hustled to the armory on their deck, their boots clanking on the hard metal floor of the ship in unison. Once they reached the armory, everyone spread out and quickly gathered their weapons. Corporal Harris Mann, Daniel's second in command and friend, tossed him a MA5B assault rifle, and grabbed one himself. Daniel pocketed some clips for the rifle in his utility belt, as well as attaching four grenades to the left side of the belt. After seeing Harris holster a M6D pistol and some clips, Daniel did the same.
ÝÝÝÝJust then the loudspeaker came on again, "Attention all personnel. We are re-engaging the enemy. External and internal contacts imminent." The AI announced. Harris looked at Daniel and grinned, "Damn Covenant, do they always want to get their asses kicked?" Daniel released the safety on his rifle, loaded a clip, and pulled back the loading bolt with a Cha-Chink. "Guess so," replied Daniel. He turned to the entire Platoon. "Okay people, lock and load; let's kick some ass." The marines stared at him. "You heard the lady, lets move to our stations, double time!" They resounded a loud "YES SIR" as they all ran out the door to their positions.
ÝÝÝÝOnce they reached the corridor they were assigned, they all stopped and lined up into a double column formation. Daniel began to walk between them as he spoke. "Remember to stay alive, aim straight, and..." Daniel paused and looked at all of them as he reached the end of the double column of his Platoon. Damn, probably half of them would die, he thought to himself. "Give'em Hell Marines!"
(30 minutes Before the Evacuation of the UNSC ship Pillar of Autumn)
0830 Hours, August 30, 2552 (Military Calendar) /
Covenant Boarding Ship, Unknown Space Region
En Route to UNSC ship Pillar of Autumn
ÝÝÝÝOnboard one of the Covenant boarding craft heading to the Human ship Pillar of Autumn, Sub-Commander Vocreke Domai was scared. He was a grunt just like the others around him. Only five feet tall, Vocreke had only a minuscule, red armored suit on that was also an environment suit that simulated his planet's nitrogen based atmosphere. He felt like he couldn't breath, even though his breath mask was working.
ÝÝÝÝHe was a commander grunt, but he only earned his rank because he managed to run away enough to stay alive to be promoted. The only weapons he possessed were a plasma pistol and a few plasma grenades. He knew if he got out last, he might be able to hide somewhere safe.
ÝÝÝÝ"Aieeee!" Vocreke and the other grunts shrieked, as the ship jolted from making contact with the human ship. "PREPARE TO BOARD ENEMY SHIP." Said the pilot elite in a guttural voice. Vocreke grasped his weapon, and as the doors hissed open, let everyone else pass before entering the battle...behind a thick, metal crate of course
(17 minutes Before the Evacuation of the UNSC ship Pillar of Autumn)
0843 Hours, August 30, 2552 (Military Calendar) /
UNSC Pillar of Autumn, Unknown Space Region
ÝÝÝÝSergeant Daniel O'Connor pressed his back against one of the bulkheads of the Pillar of Autumn as the Covenant fired their deadly plasma weapons at him. The Covenant were swarming the marine forces on this deck, deck seven. Daniel strafed to the bulkhead opposite to the one he was just behind, spraying the aliens with suppression fire. "Is that all you got!!" Yelled one of Daniel's marines as the soldier tossed a fragmentation grenade at the Covenant troops. The explosive detonated with a loud "BANG" that splattered blue blood onto the floor. Daniel was firing on some Grunts when the captain came onto the ship wide loudspeaker. "Combat teams on decks five through nine fall back to secondary defensive positions."
ÝÝÝÝDaniel took out two of the Grunts before ducking behind a fortification he and his men had set up earlier. He raised himself up and fired at some blue Elites when they tried to advance on his position. Once he was back behind the fortification, he activated his squad's comm. channel. "Marines, fall back, you heard the Capt'n, Move!!!" Just as he yelled his order, one of the Grunts chucked a plasma grenade at where Daniel was, it stuck to the floor near were he was squatting. "CRAP!!" He swore as he ran and rolled away from the grenade. The explosion almost got him; he felt the heat from the blast on his back.
ÝÝÝÝDaniel got up and ran with the rest of his men down the corridor. Once they reached a bulkhead with the blast doors open, they went past and Daniel slapped the button on the wall to close the doors. The doors sounded a double beep as they hissed shut, and locked with a "clunk". The loudspeaker came on again, it was Captain Keyes. "Ops personnel on decks nine through twelve, report to evac stations now." His squad hurried to their secondary position, and once there, ducked behind more fortifications they had set up. Daniel leveled his weapon toward the corridor they had just come from. Other marines did the same. A loud explosion rocked the entire ship again, and the captain came on the loudspeaker again. "All hands. This is the Captain. Prepare to abandon ship. Combat teams, repel boarders until Ops personnel are away. Good luck. Keyes out." The shuffling of feet could be heard coming from the corridor. "Here they come, Marines!!" Daniel yelled as the aliens rounded the corner and opened fire.
ÝÝÝÝBurning plasma seared the titanium fortifications Daniel and his men were crouched behind. "Fire!" Daniel yelled, he raised up along with the others and opened fire at the Covenant troops. Armor Piercing rounds tore through a line of Grunts that were standing in the open. They fell to the ground, blue blood flowing from the holes in their bodies. While Daniel and his squad were fighting the aliens, the captain came on the loudspeaker again. " Combat teams Alpha through November, pull out to nearest evac station." Daniel's squad was Combat team Victor, so his men kept on fighting.
ÝÝÝÝOnce they had killed the initial Covenant attackers, the captain came onto the loudspeaker again. "Combat teams Sierra through Victor, prepare for evac." That was all Daniel had to hear, he began shouting orders. " Okay Marines, fall back to the escape pods, Go!" They nodded and all ran to the bumblebee escape pods. Once they reached them, they separated and boarded the ships. The bumblebee's rear hatch doors sealed, and once Daniel, Harris, and six other marines from his squad had seated and strapped themselves in, the pilot of the bumblebee yelled a question back at him and his men. "Y'all ready?" Asked the female pilot of the bumblebee. "Yeah get us outt' a here!!" Replied Daniel. "Eye, eye sir." Said the pilot as the bumblebee jettisoned with a thud from the Pillar of Autumn. "Going for minimum safe distance." The pilot said as the bumblebee accelerated toward the ring world they had found. The pilot angled the pod towards the ring. And as the Pillar of Autumn accelerated towards the giant edifice as well, Daniel just hoped they would survive this...
The Tides of War Part 1 "As the Dust Cleared" Chapter 3
Date: 13 February 2002, 11:43 pm
Chapter 3 0933 Hours, August 30, 2552 (Military Calendar) /
Epsilon Eridani System, Reach UNSC Military Complex,
Planet Reach, Restricted Area (Level B457) - Section Three research facility Spartan 068, Robert, kept his rifle ready as the freight elevator began to slow after its three-hour descent to their destination. According to the lift control panel, they had gone well beyond the lowest levels of the complex. Yeah, at least the lowest levels ONI wanted them to know about, Robert thought to himself. The elevator stopped, and its large doors opened with a grinding of gears. "Stay back Dr. Halsey." Robert said as he moved into the large corridor that opened up into a hanger bay sized room. Sticking close to the wall, he went into a prone crouch, scanning the area with his rifle. After he double-checked his motion and infrared sensors, Robert lowered his weapon and signaled the all clear to Dr. Halsey. "No one is here Dr. Halsey; it is safe." She came up to where he was, and looked around the massive room. "Is this a hanger of some kind, Robert?" Dr. Halsey asked. Before answering, Robert looked around more closely, and spotting a lone Long Sword interceptor, looked down at Dr. Halsey. "I believe so; there is one Long Sword interceptor in here." He pointed at the craft.
"Hmmm..." Dr. Halsey murmured as she looked around herself. She spotted something, because her eyes widened. "Robert, that looks like some kind of laboratory over there." She pointed at a large, gray, square building with large, dark windows, to their right, "Maybe we can find a way to get out of here from there." "Possibly." He replied. They walked over to the structure, which had normal sized armored double doors, along with a security panel, for an entrance. Dr. Halsey entered a code into the door; it bleeped a negative tone. "UNAUTHORIZED SECURITY CODE TO ACCESS FACILITY. LEVEL 13 SECURITY CLEARANCE REQUIRED." The metallic voice of the security system announced. "What?!" Dr. Halsey said, then she looked up at Robert, "The highest security clearance is level 12, there is no level 13," she paused, kicked the door, then continued, "Damn ONI spooks. Got any ideas Robert?" She looked up at him quizzically. He thought for a moment, then, remembering he had some C-12 explosives pulled out a lump of the stuff and looked down at Dr. Halsey. "I just remembered I have my own level 13 clearance." "What?" She looked at the explosive, then her eyes widened. "Oh..." 0942 Hours, August 30, 2552 (Military Calendar) /
Artificial Ring World, Bumblebee Escape Pod
Crash Down on Surface Sergeant Daniel O'Connor held on tightly to his seat harness as the bumblebee escape pod shook violently when the pilot fired the craft's atmospheric retrorockets. The pilot was a lieutenant and a veteran fighter pilot. "We're c'mon in fast," She yelled back to O'Connor and his men, "brace for impact, I'll try to land us somewhere soft!" It was a close call, because when the pod came crashing down after its airbrakes broke off, the bumblebee barely missed the rocky outcroppings that were only a few meters away. Unfortunately, they still hit a sharp boulder that pierced the cockpit of the bumblebee pod. The pilot was instantly killed. Daniel and his men however, were still alive and they quickly unbuckled themselves from the seats.
"Gather your equipment, Marines!" Daniel yelled at the others in the pod. He popped the rear hatch, which slid open with a hiss. He gathered his weapons and gear, and then he jumped out of the pod. He turned to face his men who were still inside the pod grabbing their gear. "Pile out Ladies, triple time!" He barked the order at his men, and a few seconds later, they jumped out and formed a staggered line formation in front of the pod. Daniel stood opposite them; he waited for his second in command. Corporal Harris Mann promptly fell in beside Daniel. "Ready, sir!" Said Harris as he stood there. Daniel looked at his men, and then he looked around.
They were in a roughly circular canyon that rose into a slightly steep hill that was littered with various sizes of boulders, to Daniels right. To his left there were two exits out of the canyon. The bumblebee had torn up the ground that that they were standing on pretty badly during the crash. The bumblebee was even still smoking when Daniel heard, and then saw, a purplish-pink Covenant drop ship scream over the canyon before it began to turn back to where Daniel and his men were.
"Damn it!" Daniel cursed as he started shouting orders. "Marines, lets move into those hills, we'll be harder to kill if they can't see us behind those boulders, now move it!" He waved them towards the rocks. He checked his rifle, made sure the safety was off, and then ran up behind the boulders with the rest of his Platoon.
It was a close call because as soon as Daniel and his men got themselves concealed well enough, the Covenant drop ship was coming down to land by the escape pod, the turret on the bottom back part of the ship sweeping the area for a target. Daniel crouched behind a fallen boulder that was a little bit taller than his midsection. He then carefully looked over the rock to see what they would be facing. The doors of the Covenant drop ship opened, and eight grunts either holding plasma pistols or needlers jumped out, followed by six jackals with their energy shields in one hand and plasma rifles in the other, four blue elites clutching plasma rifles, and one gold colored elite also carrying a plasma rifle.
The commander yelled at the other aliens as he pointed around the canyon. The other aliens responded and spread out, obviously looking for survivors. Daniel ducked back down behind his boulder, then he whispered into his helmet's comm. link. "Marines, do not open fire until I say so," He cautiously looked back up at the aliens again, "We'll see what they do before we expose our position, is that clear?" He ducked back down again and looked at his fellow Marines. They nodded to him in acknowledgement.
Daniel looked up again to see where the bastards were. They had stopped their search and were just standing around by the pod.. The commander elite was yelling something guttural into what looked to be a comm. link. Daniel scanned the area again, and then he began contemplating whether to attack the Covenant or find a way around them when he heard the faint growl of an engine. It was the distinct sound of a Warthog. The noise got louder as the Warthog came closer. The Covenant troops heard it too, and they were looking around, puzzled.
A moment later, a Warthog jeep came flying over a hill and into the canyon from the left entrance. Daniel heard the taunt of one of the marines in the jeep as the loud thrumming of the rear chain gun started up and the marine manning the gun sprayed the deadly hail of gunfire at the stunned aliens. The commander elite quickly got his bearings because he started shouting orders at his troops as he fired on the jeep. Deadly blue and green plasma fire struck the jeep, but it did not even hit anyone in the jeep. The driver of the Warthog twisted and turned the jeep to avoid a volley of explosive needles, and in the process managed to run over two grunts who had needlers. Some of the other grunts that were still alive ran away in fear, but they were mowed down by the gunner of the Warthog. The commander elite was the only one left standing as the driver of the jeep drove straight at him. Right before the driver of the Warthog ran down the commander elite, the alien managed to throw a plasma grenade onto the jeep.
The grenade firmly stuck, and Daniel could hear the loud cursing of the marines in the jeep. Before the grenade exploded, Daniel got a glimpse of the driver who was glad in a green suit of full body armor. The plasma grenade exploded, killing the marines, flipping the Warthog, and throwing the driver out of the vehicle.
Daniel thought all the people in the Warthog were killed when he saw the soldier in the green armor get up, he also noticed a shimmering around the green armor, like an elite's shields, as the armored giant ran back over to the Warthog and flipped it back on all four wheels effortlessly, with one hand.
Daniel was trying to remember where he saw armored giants like this one when one of his marines answered his unspoken question. "Hey, it's a Mark V!" One of the marines behind him said. Then Daniel remembered, oh what were they called? Oh yeah, Spartans, he thought as he yelled back at his men. "Okay Marines, lets give the Spartan a hand, lets get down there." His marines replied "Yes, sir" as Daniel jumped over the rock he was behind and slid down the hill to where the Spartan was. His men followed him down. The giant turned around to face Daniel. Daniel noticed the Spartan's rank on his helmet.
"Glad to see ya', Master Chief!" Daniel said excitedly. His comm. link clicked on and surprisingly to Daniel, Cortana spoke. "Sergeant, I am sending for a drop ship to pick your men up, we could use some help finding the other survivors, could you spare any men?" Daniel nodded, called Harris over, then replied, "Sure, the Corporal and me will go with ya'." Daniel turned back to his men. "Okay marines, wait here for evac, me and the Corporal here are go' in with the Chief here," Daniel pointed to one of his men, "Son, your in charge until I get back, is that understood?" The marine saluted Daniel and replied, "Sir, yes sir!" By that time, the Master Chief was already waiting in the Warthog.
Daniel looked at Harris, then Daniel jumped up onto the back of the jeep and grabbed the chain gun. Harris reloaded his assault rifle and heaved himself up into the passenger seat, and then he positioned himself so he could fire from where he was. "Floor it!" Daniel yelled in excitement, he loved firing the chain gun. It was exhilarating for him when he mowed down enemies with it; he loved the sheer power it gave him.
The Master Chief jerked the Warthog forward, and as Daniel bounced up and down with every bump the Master Chief hit, he couldn't help smiling as the fresh air on this ring world whipped through his hair. 1025 Hours, August 30, 2552 (Military Calendar) /
Epsilon Eridani System, Reach UNSC Military Complex,
Planet Reach, Restricted Area (Level B457) - Section Three research facility A loud "KA-BOOM" Reverberated throughout the hanger bay. It was followed by an equally loud clatter of the metal doors against the outside concrete hanger floor. Once the smoke began to clear, Robert heard the security system announce, "UNAUTH...... SEC..TY CO.. TO ACC... FACILITY. LEV.. 13 SECU...TY CLEA..NCE REQ....." The system tried to say it again, but the system panel sparked, caught fire, and blew up. The panel was toast. Robert grinned, he loved explosives. "Dr. Halsey, we now have access to the structure." He announced as Dr. Halsey coughed, and fanned away the smoke from her face. "That always works to, I guess." She stated as she and Robert walked toward the building, and went inside.
Inside the building it was easy to tell that it was, in fact, a laboratory of some sort. There was a locker room that had equipment, two long tables parallel to each other on opposite sides of the entrance. The tables had scanning equipment, various tools, and strange looking devices that looked like Covenant technology were also on the table. But what caught his eye was a forest-green MJOLNIR power armor suspended on a ceiling hook. "Ma, am, you better take a look at this." He pointed at the armor as he approached it. It was about the same as his, except the fusion backpack was much smaller, and the armor plates, as well as the shield emitters, looked different somehow.
"So this is what ONI was doing down here," Dr. Halsey stated as she approached the armor. She grabbed the arm of it, and seemed surprised as she studied it. "This armor is lightweight, and theses shield emitters are smaller," she pointed at the small notches in the arm, "than the ones on your suit." She let go of the arm of the armor, then she walked over to a plasma screen that was part of the wall next to the MJOLNIR armor. "Maybe the ONI scientists recorded their data here," she said as she activated the control panel below the screen. The plasma screen came to life, and as Dr. Halsey activated a series of log entries, the first log entry began to play.
The scientist who recorded the log entry was a middle aged man with gray hair and a short beard matching his hair. As the man spoke, Robert noticed the man had a heavy French accent, "We have completed our study of the Covenant technology provided by the ONI spooks, and I am very excited about the results, once we have determined how to integrate it into our technology, we will have no problem improving the MJOLNIR power armor system created by Dr. Halsey." The log ended, and before the second could start, Dr. Halsey skipped ahead a few entries, then let it continue. The same man began to speak again. "Success!" the man exclaimed as he held up the gauntlet of the new MJOLNIR armor, "We have deciphered the Covenant technology and have been able to create a much stronger version of the MJOLNIR armor." He ran his index finger along the forest green armor of the gauntlet. "It is surprising that this new armor plate is ten-times stronger than the titanium battle plate used on our warships, it is also very lightweight. The completed armored suit, when weighed, only weighed 1/2 a ton, also the shield emitters can produce an energy shield around the suit that is as strong as the shields used on the Covenant battle ships!" He put down the glove, then he began rambling on about how he managed to decipher the alien technology.
Dr. Halsey clearly heard enough, because she deactivated the log entries.She turned toward Robert. "Well, well, well," Dr. Halsey said, as she walked over to the armor again, "Looks looks like those ONI bastards did something right for a change." She looked at the armor, then at Robert. "You think it'll fit you?" asked Dr. Halsey. Robert Considered this, then nodded his head. "Good." Dr. Halsey said as she opened a panel on the suit, pressed a few buttons, and closed it. The suit opened up.
Robert deactivated his suit. He stepped out of the armor, walked up to the new armor, and put himself into it. The armor was lined inside with form fitting gel that immediately conformed to his body and adjusted to match his body temperature as the armor automatically sealed itself around him. He turned around to face Dr. Halsey. "How do you feel?" She asked him as he stood, motionless.
"Never felt better." Robert replied.
The Tides of War Part 1 "As the Dust Cleared" Chapter 4
Date: 13 March 2002, 3:16 am
1200 Hours, August 30, 2552 (Military Calendar) /
Covenant Ship Redemption, Epsilon Eridani System,
Planet Reach, High Orbit Supreme War Master T'soll Vorskray stood in the shrine of the gods inside his command ship. The creature he held squirmed in his hand as T'soll prepared the sacrifice to Shai'Kun, the God of war. T'soll knew that the God of war would be most displeased if he did not receive the blood of the Okliufra which is a small, but fierce, reptile that is a deadly hunter on its home world where it is bred for this special ritual. "Ishkorma lo mirsa, si ekka foran mer poriksa codias!" T'soll said the sacred words, which translated to, "Grateful are we, the servants of the Gods of old". T'soll slowly picked up a ceremonial dagger made of ebony out of the ancient lead box that held it, then he held the Okliufra down with one hand on the sacrificial table.
The table was a large, smooth slab of marble, which slanted slightly toward both edges of the tabletop. It had a circular bowl hollowed out in the middle, and connected to the bowl were twin narrow channels chiseled on opposite sides of the bowl that fed to the edges of the table, where the Okliufra's blood would slowly drift, and from there the blood would drain onto two large, special flames that burned in a bluish-green glow. These holy flames would burn the blood and transport it to the realm of the Gods.
T'soll raised the dagger above the creature, then he brought it down through the Okliufra's heart. The blade punctured the creature's heart with a sickly squishing noise. The blood welled up slowly out of the hole in the Okliufra's limp body. The green blood of the creature began to pool up in the ceremonial bowl as T'soll removed the dagger from the body of the creature. He cleaned the blade with a cloth, and then he carefully put the dagger back in the metal box. T'soll then stepped back from the platform, and he kneeled down and watched as the blood drifted slowly through the furrows to the edges of the table, where it then began to cascade upon the flames and burn the flames even brighter, as the blood cased the flames to make crackling noises.
Once the ritual came to an end, the remaining blood dribbling slowly on the flames, T'soll bowed to the Gods respectively, then he turned around and headed for the exit of the shrine. He could hear the priests as they moved in to clean up after the sacred ritual.
T'soll entered a brightly lit purplish-pink hallway. The door to the shrine promptly shut with a clunk behind him. He turned to his left and made his way down the hallway, which was filled with the various engineers', and technicians' who were floating about working on repairs on his ship.
Once the War Master reached a gravity lift, he entered inside. When the doors closed to the lift, T'soll keyed the holo panel for the bridge. The lift activated and it slightly bounced down before it started its ascent toward the bridge. T'soll stretched his stiff back, then he loosened his shoulders. It had been a long day, and he hadn't sat down for quite some time. The lift finally began to slow to its destination, and as it came to a stop, it went slightly higher than it was supposed to before it came back down and aligned with the deck.
T'soll exited the rectangular lift and moved toward the main part of the bridge. The bridge of his ship is oval shaped with and observation deck toward the front of the bridge were T'soll could watch the carnage as it happened. In the middle of the bridge is a raised platform shaped like half a circle that has a ramp connected to the back of it, this is were the navigation, weapons, and communication stations are located. Two long rectangular "pits" run parallel to both sides of the command platform, this is where ship systems such as engineering, ship deployment and troop deployment as well as other minor systems are monitored. Opposite the gravity lift is the War Master's Ready Room.
T'soll walked across the deck to his ready room and entered inside. Once the doors closed, the War Master approached his Blackwood desk and sat down on his Darfr leather hide armchair. Ah, so Comfortable! He thought to himself as he reached for the bottom right drawer of the desk. He slowly opened it and retrieved a large tear shaped bottle of Skar'at Tel blood wine, then T'soll promptly popped the cork off the top of the bottle, causing the cork to fall to the floor. The War Master didn't bother to pick up the cork as he sniffed the bittersweet smell of the blood wine. He held it up high, then said "to my victory!" As he brought the open end of the bottle to his mouth and quickly quaffed down a swig of the stuff.
After slamming the bottle down on the table and wiping the dribbles of blood wine from his four mouth parts, the War Master retrieved the fallen cork, wiped it clean, then put it back in the bottle. Once the bottle was safely back in the desk drawer, he activated his holo-computer, which suspended a flat, rectangular screen, a few centimeters above the emitter on his desk. Just as T'soll was about to access the BATTLE NET to see where he would need to have his armada positioned to destroy even more Humans, his Video Communications Link announced he had a priority red transmission. He activated the Vid-Comm. link.
"Who Bothers me!!" Growled T'soll into the Vid-Comm. Unfortunately it was not one of his lower Commanders who was contacting him. It was the Prophet of the War Council. "It is I who bothers you... War Master T'soll Vorskray." Said the Prophet, with a slight hint of irritation in his voice. T'soll bowed his head to the Prophet for his impudent tone, then he said, "A thousand apologies most holy one, I did not expect to be contacted by someone of such importance to the Gods." Apparently T'soll saved himself, because to Prophet slightly smiled from the compliment. "Enough of this, War Master. I must get to the reason I called you." The War Master straitened his posture, then asked "what could I do for you, Great one?" "I have some... unsettling information for you," the prophet cocked his eyebrow at T'soll and said, "It concerns your brother, Bre'sadi Vorskray." 1230 Hours, August 30, 2552 (Military Calendar) /
Epsilon Eridani System, Reach UNSC Military Complex,
Planet Reach, Restricted Area (Level B457) - Section Three research facility "So, how does the new armor feel? Is it any different from your old suit?" Dr. Halsey's asked Robert. Her voice crackled through his helmet's commlink. "It moves the same as the old suit," He paused, and examined his arm, "I believe the only major modifications to the MJOLNIR system is the enhanced armor and shields."
After he had donned the new armor enhanced by the ONI scientists, Dr. Halsey had insisted that before he test the suit's capabilities that she run various diagnostics on it to make sure that it wouldn't blow up. Once she was satisfied, Robert had quickly used the fallen debris in the hanger bay as a makeshift obstacle course to test the motor functions of the armor.
Unfortunately for Spartan 068, there were no changes to these aspects of the suit. Besides the fact that the armor weighed slightly less than his old suit, allowing Robert to jump a small amount higher than he used to, nothing else had been modified from the original MJOLNIR design.
Once Robert had reentered the laboratory were Dr. Halsey was, she turned her head toward him. "That's good, at least you don't have to adjust to the armor." She said, then she walked over to a computer terminal and started checking a list of what the ONI scientists' had ordered as far as supplies for their research. Just then a rumbling shook the walls of the underground facility.
The lights flickered on and off, then they came back on. "What was that!" Dr. Halsey said from the sudden shock. "The Covenant probably bombarded the surface enough to create a pretty large crater; we most likely have little time left before they penetrate this hanger." Robert said as he looked around, and spotting a duffel bag, grabbed it and threw it toward Dr. Halsey. She took the bag.
"What do I do with this?" She asked Robert. "Put anything you think we might need with us when we leave in it." He said as he turned towards the still locked storage lockers next to him. It had a deadbolt lock on it. Robert easily ripped the lock off, then he opened the locker. Inside was a single metal gauntlet. Robert picked it up, examined it, then put it on his right hand. He turned his head back towards were Dr. Halsey was. "Dr. Halsey, did you read anything about ONI making gauntlets for some reason?" He asked, then he waited for a reply. "No, why?" She asked. Robert looked back at his hand and was about to tell Dr. Halsey about the gauntlet, but when he looked back at his hand and arm, the gauntlet was gone. What the... he thought as he examined his forest-green armored hand. "Robert? What are you talking about?" She asked him again. "Nothing ma'am, it's nothing." Robert replied to her.
He grabbed his MA5B assault rifle from the table he had placed it on and slung it over his shoulder. He pocketed the clips for the weapon as he left the lab. Dr. Halsey was waiting outside. "I took what I needed, oh, and here, take this Robert." She said as she handed him a small, clear cube. It was an AI memory chip. "You remember Deja, I modified her programming so she could help you in combat situations and she also has the latest infiltration software." Robert nodded to Dr. Halsey as he inserted the AI chip into his neural interface. A cool liquid presence flowed into his mind. "Hello Spartan 068, I will help you become more efficient in your tasks." Deja's smooth female voice said to Robert through his helmet's speakers. He had never had an AI in his mind before, and the feeling was quite odd. "Hi, Deja" Robert said into his helmet. He turned toward Dr. Halsey again. "Ma'am, if you are finished we should continue to the Long Sword." "I agree with you fully," Dr. Halsey said as she and Spartan 068 ran towards the interceptor.
Another explosion, closer this time, shook the hanger hard, and Dr. Halsey and Robert had to brace themselves against the landing strut of the Long Sword. "Deja! Access the Long Sword computer systems and open the landing ramp, now!" Robert yelled as the hanger started to crumble. "Accessing.......... Lowering ramp. I suggest you board now, Chief." Deja said. That was odd, Robert thought. He didn't think she would call him by his rank of Chief Petty Officer. Robert didn't think another moment about it as he and Dr. Halsey boarded the ship and the landing ramp closed with a clunk.
"Chief, I have initiated preflight systems and warmed up the engines. The ship is ready to launch." Deja's cool voice said to Robert as he strapped himself into the pilot's seat of the craft. Dr. Halsey sat herself in the co-pilot's seat next to Robert. "Here we go, Dr. Halsey." Robert said as he grabbed the controls to the craft. The engines roared to life. The loud rumbling of the ship's engines thundered louder as he adjusted the VTOL settings to get the Long Sword hovering, then he pushed up on the throttle and maneuvered the ship forward, then left around a thick concrete column, toward the main Hanger door that was... closed. He set the craft to VTOL again. "Deja, can you open the main hanger door?" Robert asked, then waited.
"Negative. The system has shut down due to the attack. I recommend using the weapons on the Long Sword to blast the doors open." "Right." Replied Robert as he thumbed the firing switch's cover on the joystick. Robert pointed the target reticule for the archer missiles at the center of the door. He pressed the firing button with his thumb, sending the high explosive missile at the thick hanger door. They blew apart with a thunderous explosive rumble. Only the edges of the door remained, the rest was scrap metal. He throttled the ship forward, its engines rumbled louder as the ship picked up speed.
They entered a large winding tunnel that lasted for what seemed like forever. When they reached the end of the tunnel, there were more doors. These doors opened automatically. Finally, Robert thought as he piloted the interceptor through the waterfall covering the "Hidden" entrance to the secret hanger. "Amazing!" Dr. Halsey said as she read the ships radar map, "We are almost on the other side of the planet." Robert looked at her. "Great, but how are we supposed to get off the planet, the covenant ships will surely see us." Dr. Halsey accessed a control panel on the ship's computer and entered a few commands. The Long Sword computer's monotone metallic voice announced, "CLOAK GENERATOR ACTIVE. SENSOR MASKING ACTIVE." Robert checked the computer, then looked at Dr. Halsey again. "That will definitely make escaping much easier." Robert said to Dr. Halsey. She nodded and said, "Now get us out of here, Chief." "Yes ma'am." Robert said.
He brought the ship into an out system vector, and as he plotted a "random" course into the ship's computer, he could only wonder if he was the last of his kind as the Long Sword interceptor tore a hole into real space and they entered the starless slipstream.
The Tides of War Part 2 "Unforseen Alliances" Chapter 5
Date: 23 March 2002, 4:30 am
0640 Hours, August 31, 2552 (Military Calendar) /
Sol System, patrolling near Pluto,
UNSC command ship Saratoga Fleet Admiral Stanley Leonard stood on the observation deck on his command ship the UNSC Heavy Cruiser Saratoga, gazing out the view port with his hands clasped behind his back. Yesterday had been a hard day when he learned that the Reach system had come under Covenant attack. He still had not received a progress report on the fighting there, and the Admiral was worried. If Reach fell from the Covenant assault then the war would be over in a matter of weeks. He brushed the thought aside. Reach couldn't possibly fall to the Covenant, not with all the defenses there, could it? But in the back of his mind he knew it could happen. Well, the Admiral thought, if they want to kill us so bad, I'm not going down without taken some of those bastards with me.
The Admiral sighed, and then he closed his eyes and shook his head. "Admiral, I'm receiving a report from ONI for you sir." The young woman paused as she keyed some commands into her computer display, "Its about Reach, sir. It has an Alpha priority encryption on it that requires you command codes." Admiral Leonard turned toward the young female comm. officer. "Send it to my ready room, lieutenant. I'll read it there." The Admiral said as he began walking to his ready room. "Yes, sir." Replied the lieutenant as she turned back to her station.
Admiral Leonard entered his ready room and walked behind his desk to sit down in his chair. Once he was seated, the Admiral activated his computer. The touch screen plasma monitor came to life. It first displayed the UNSC seal, and then it went to the main menu with multiple icons. His message box was blinking, and the Admiral touched the icon to open it. Inside were three messages, two were old, but the third was the report from ONI. He opened it. "PLEASE STATE YOUR COMMAND CODE" said the computer. "Admiral Stanley Gerard Leonard, command code Alpha thirteen four six five Zulu seven nine Sierra twelve twenty-six." Admiral Leonard said to the computer. "VOICEPRINT CONFIRMED. COMMAND CODE ACCEPTED" the computer stated as the document opened. It read: United Nations Space Command Priority Transmission
57472D-87
Encryption Code: Alpha
Public Key: N/A
From: ONI Headquarters, New York
To: UNSC Fleet Admiral Stanley Gerard Leonard
Subject: The fall of Reach/Casualty Report
Classification: Restricted (BGX Directive)
/start file/
Fleet Admiral Stanley Gerard Leonard,
All contact with the Reach system was lost approximately 12 hours ago. Stealth ships sent in to investigate confirm the fall of the system to superior Covenant forces. Confirmation of 100% casualties by scans from stealth ships. No survivors. Be prepared for incursion of the Sol system by Covenant forces. The Covenant might have obtained navigational data despite the Cole Protocol.
Casualties
-- 250 ships confirmed destroyed
-- Estimated 150,000 to 200,000 UNSC personnel KIA
-- All reach installations destroyed
-- Weapons stockpile lost
-- SPARTAN II project lost
-- Remaining SPARTAN's KIA
/end file/
Press ENTER to close file The Admiral pressed enter and turned off his computer. He just sat in his ready room in silence, thinking over what he just read.
Reach had fallen.
He shook his head in disbelief. How could this have happened? Of all the planets besides Earth, he never thought Reach would succumb to the Covenant.
As the Admiral sat in uncertainty in his ready room, the ready room's intercom crackled on, and the tactical officer came over the intercom. "Admiral, sir, we are receiving some strange telemetry from the Pluto orbital space station that I think you should take a look at." Admiral Leonard sighed, he hoped the data wasn't what he was guessing it was. "I'll be right there." Replied the Admiral.
He got up and exited his ready room, and then he walked over to the tactical station.
"I hope it's not the Covenant, tell me it's not, son." The Admiral said to the tactical officer. "Sir, it just exited slipstream." The officer looked up gravely at Admiral Leonard. "Well? What is it son?" Asked the Admiral again. "It's a small fleet of Covenant ships, sir." The Admiral looked more sternly at the young man. "How small, Lieutenant." Said the Admiral. "Two destroyer class ships and six frigate class ships." Stated the officer as he looked at his monitor. The young officer looked up at the Admiral. "Should I initiate the Cole Protocol, sir?" Asked the officer.
Admiral Leonard shook his head. "No need to son, they know about Earth now." The Admiral walked over to where the main battle screen was. There was a small AI pedestal connected to it. "Noa." Admiral Leonard said the female AI's name. "Yes Admiral?" Said a calm female voice as Noa's slender form projected from the AI pedestal. She was dressed in a white toga with her tanned transparent skin clearly seen. "Put the ship on combat alert alpha, Noa. Prepare point defenses." He said to her. She nodded and faded out from the AI pedestal. The ship's interior lighting dimmed to a red hue as the alarms sounded. He turned to his comm. officer. "Lieutenant Fyke, send a message to the fleet that the covenant have found Earth." He marked a NAV point in the path of the Covenant battle group on the battle screen in front of him, which displayed a map of the space around Pluto.
"Have the fleet rendezvous at these coordinates to repel the attack." "Yes sir." Replied the officer. The helm officer, Lieutenant Dunn, turned towards the Admiral. "What's going to happen sir, is Earth going to be destroyed?" The Admiral looked at the young officer. "I'll make sure that never happens, Earth won't fall." The helm officer nodded uncertainly to the Admiral as he returned to his station.
But for Admiral Leonard, he didn't know what would happen.
And he had a bad feeling about this.
0933 Hours, August 31, 2552 (Military Calendar) /
Sol System, Near Pluto,
UNSC command ship Saratoga
The Sol fleet of thirteen warships was shortly reduced to the Saratoga and two surviving destroyers. The battle wasn't going well.
"Admiral!" Yelled the tactical officer, "The destroyer Bismarck's engines have been hit, she's going critical!" Just then the destroyer named Bismarck exploded in a ball of nuclear fire. Admiral Leonard shielded his eyes, even though the view port dimmed from the sudden flash of light. Luckily, the Bismarck had a Covenant frigate close to it. The enemy ship was caught in the explosion. Its shield glowed white and then collapsed; the alien ship was destroyed with the Bismarck.
Just then the Saratoga took a direct hit from a Covenant plasma torpedo. "Sir, the aft sections are burning! The fires' spreading!" The chief engineer yelled from his station. "Seal those decks and vent the atmosphere! Now!" The Admiral quickly said to the engineer. "Fires' out, sir." The chief engineer said, partially relieved. His fingers danced across the computer screen. "Decks thirty through thirty-seven are gone sir, they.. they burned away." The officer said in horror.
"Fire control to the main cannon is offline sir, ammunition levels nearly depleted." Reported the tactical officer. The Admiral had underestimated the enemy fleet.
When the battle started, things seemed to be going fine. Admiral Leonard had grouped his fleet in a tight wall formation.
That was his grave mistake.
The enemy took advantage of the situation by immediately launching a volley of plasma torpedoes at the Admiral's fleet. Most of the UNSC ships were too close together to effectively maneuver to avoid the deadly torpedoes. In an instant half the fleet was reduced to ionized titanium particles. The Admiral ordered the remaining ships to break and attack.
They engaged the enemy fleet and managed to take down two more Covenant frigates, leaving only one more. The destroyer class ships were a different story. They had taken little damage during the exchanges of fire between the two fleets, and when the Saratoga, Bismarck, and Yorktown began to fall back, the enemy ships gladly pursued.
Now that it was down to the Admiral's ship and the UNSC destroyer Yorktown, things were looking bad. "Fyke, how long until reinforcements arrive?" The Admiral asked the lieutenant. "Their ETA is twenty minutes sir." She said as she braced herself against her station as the Saratoga took more enemy fire. Twenty minutes? Thought Admiral Leonard. By then he might be dead and Earth with him. "If anyone has any suggestions on how we can last for twenty more minutes, speak up!" Yelled the Admiral to his crew.
No one had any ideas. Except Noa. "Admiral, if you let me fly the ship I could navigate us into the nearby asteroid belt." She put her holographic hands on her hips, "I would be able to dodge more of the plasma torpedoes in there." She stared at the Admiral. "Do it then Noa!" He said quickly. "Taking control of the ship...now" as Noa spoke, the Saratoga veered toward the asteroid belt. She rolled and jinked the big cruiser side to side as if it were a fighter, dodging enemy fire with ease.
As they approached the asteroids something unusual happened. The pursuing enemy ships changed their heading back towards Pluto. Noa brought the Saratoga to a halt and maneuvered the ship around 180 degrees to face the diverging enemy ships. "Admiral sir, I am getting new telemetry from sensors." The tactical officer punched commands into his computer. "It's a new Covenant fleet. It's huge! Picking up over three hundred and fifty ships." The officer said, astonished. Moments later the armada exited slipstream in ten perfectly formed wall formations consisting of thirty-five ships in each group.
What surprised the Admiral was the fact that the two destroyers heading towards the covenant armada were opening fire on these new visitors, and the armada was firing at the destroyers. In a matter of minutes the new ships vaporized the two Covenant destroyers. "Noa, did I just see those Covenant kill their own ships." Asked the Admiral in disbelief. Noa's image appeared over the AI holo projector. She nodded her head as she "looked" on at the Covenant armada. "Yes, they did destroy those two remaining warships," She paused as she accessed the Saratoga's sensors, "Odd.. their weapons are powered down and their shields are down." She looked puzzled. AI's never got puzzled.
Another heartbeat passed before anyone else spoke. The comm. officer broke the silence, "Admiral, the lead ship of the Covenant armada is hailing us. It's an audio and visual transmission sir." The Admiral pointed at the main battle screen as he spoke. "Put it up here lieutenant." The officer did, and the screen came to life, displaying a gold Commander Elite with silver shoulder pads. "Greetings, human. I assume that you are the commander of your fleet, seeing as the smaller vessel follows you." The alien said in a deep, guttural voice. Admiral Leonard stared at the alien in brief disbelief. Yes Stanley, he is talking to you, the Admiral thought to himself as he stood in silence. "Yes, I am Fleet Admiral Stanley Gerard Leonard of the UNSC Navy." He paused as he put on his best diplomatic face. "And who are you?" He asked the alien.
The Elite put his fist to his chest. "I am Commander General Bre'sadi Vorskray of the Covenant Naval Forces and brother of Supreme War Master T'soll Vorskray." The Elite paused to smile; at least that's what the Admiral thought that facial expression was. "Actually, that title is probably former General since I joined the Revolutionary Coalition Forces." Said the Elite.
Admiral Leonard crossed his arms over his chest. He suspiciously raised his eyebrow at the Covenant General. "Why did you help us? I thought we were an "Affront to your gods." The elite laughed at the question. "That is not true, the Prophets only conjured up that lie to gain power. Our gods love all life. That's what the real Prophets taught before they were killed by the power hungry ones." The Admiral nodded his head. "So why have you come here then? Are you going to help our people?" Admiral Leonard waited for a reply.
"Yes. We will help you, for you are what we fight for. The Coalition's goal is to end the oppression of the Prophets. What they have done to your people is wrong." The General slightly bowed his head. "We wish to form an alliance with your people. In doing so we will push back the Prophets' plans and liberate your race." The Elite paused. "We will still need your help. We have more ships than this and not enough people to crew them. In order to defeat the other forces we will need great numbers of ships. We could teach you how to operate the other ships so that you may fight with us." The General looked directly at Admiral Leonard.
"I'll contact my superiors, I'm sure they would be happy to form an alliance. I know I would." The Admiral smiled at the alien on the screen. "Contact me when you speak with your leaders. In the meantime my forces will spread out to protect your home world. I am certain my brother knows what happened, and he will most likely attack again soon." The Elite yelled something in his own language to someone off screen. "I bid you luck with your task, Admiral." "Same to you." Said Admiral Leonard as he cut the transmission.
The Admiral turned towards his helm officer. "Lieutenant Dunn, set a course for Earth at whatever speed is possible." "Eye, sir. The engines can go up to sixty-two percent. Setting course." The officer's fingers danced across the monitor as he piloted the ship toward Earth.
"Well everyone, things are looking better all ready for the Human race." The Admiral Said to his crew. They nodded their heads as they worked.
And as the ship lurched forward to that blue and green jewel floating in the darkness of space, Admiral Stanley Leonard smiled, seeing as the Human race finally had a chance to fight back the Covenant...
The Tides of War Part 2 "Unforseen Alliances" Chapter 6
Date: 23 November 2002, 2:24 am
1230 Hours, August 31, 2552 (Military Calendar) /
Sol System, patrolling outer edge of system,
RCF command ship Virtuous
Commander General Bre'sadi Vorskray seated himself in the captain's chair of his command warship. The Virtuous was a powerful version of the normal Ak'Sa Heavy cruiser; which forms the backbone of the Covenant Navy. The Virtuous had been equipped with enhanced sensors, and a new regenerative shield matrix was also fitted onto the ship. Coupled with the new mark XII plasma cannons, the ship was a very deadly tool when used by the right person.
"General, I'm receiving a narrow band slipstream transmission. I believe it is coming from a Covenant command ship." The blue officer elite said to Bre'sadi. "Put the transmission on the main view screen." The General said as he sat back in his captain's chair. The officer put up the transmission on the view screen. The face Bre'sadi saw was not one he wanted to see. "Ahh... Brother, so you will speak to me?" The image of Bre'sadi's older brother looked angry as he spoke. "Yes, what do you want? Honorable War Master. Have you seen the truth and decided to join the Coalition?" Bre'sadi looked brazenly at his malicious sibling. Bre'sadi's brother snarled. "You thought I would join with you traitors! Fool." The War Master spat on the floor of his ship, "I would rather be killed by a Human than join you," Bre'sadi's brother scoffed.
A moment of timid silence passed before Bre'sadi began to gather his thoughts and respond to his naive brother. "Then why have you contacted me?" Bre'sadi asked in a composed, cautious voice. "I wanted to see for myself the face of my treacherous brother." T'soll practically spat the word "brother" out, as if calling Bre'sadi that left a sour taste in the War Master's mouth.
Bre'sadi watched his brother, trying to figure out what he was thinking. What the General could easily read from the War Master was the fact that he was very, very enraged about Bre'sadi's defection to the rebel forces. "Why did you do it Bre'sadi? Why did you join those blasphemous criminals. You were supposed to fight by my side, supposed to join me in glorious battle against the wicked infidels. But now you choose to help them?! You choose to offend the gods? Why? Answer me brother, tell me why you dare dishonor our family name with your heresy!" The War Master roared wrathfully at Bre'sadi, and although it was just his image, the War Master's anger hit harshly at Bre'sadi's core. How awful war can be sometimes! Thought Bre'sadi to himself. Turning brother against brother must be the most terrible form of it.
General Bre'sadi quickly quelled his thoughts about his brother's outburst as he answered T'soll's question. "You know why I left brother. Don't try and make me feel guilty for having morals about life. Unlike you, I don't follow orders blindly. Not without thinking of the consequences of my actions." Bre'sadi balled his hand into a fist and stared coldly at his older brother, "You may think nothing of killing living, sentient beings, but I do. I can kill soldiers and those trying to kill me, yes, but I do not think it right to execute whole worlds of innocent beings just because their different than us, and after I saw you happily murder those unarmed human colonists in the Trk'Pahn system, I knew I would never be able to kill so heartlessly as you had." Bre'sadi pointed at the image of his brother, "You are a fool to believe what the Prophets say. Don't you remember the old teachings? The true gods created all life and cherished their creations, they did not want their creations destroyed!" T'soll snickered at Bre'sadi's wistful speech about morals.
"I will not try to understand your reasons Bre'sadi. You are the foolish one, for I will," T'soll closed his fist as if squashing something invisible," crush you, your rebel coalition, and the infidels. I will live on, you will fade away into nothing. Not even memory will remember you." With that last insult, the War Master cut the transmission, leaving Bre'sadi to stare at a blank screen.
Several moments passed before the ominous silence that hung over the bridge like a blanket was lifted by the ships comm. officer "General, the human command ship is hailing us." Bre'sadi mulled over the issue for only a moment longer before responding to the officer. "Put them on screen." The General said to his comm. officer. The view screen once again came alive, this time displaying the face of the human Admiral. The Admiral greeted Bre'sadi with a amiable smile. "Good to see you again Commander General." Bre'sadi nodded his head. "Likewise Admiral. I assume you bring good news about your meeting with your superiors?" The Admiral clasped his hands together as he spoke, "Yes, they wish to meet with you and discuss allying with your Coalition. They also wanted to tell you personally how grateful they are at your arrival. I'm guessing that you heard what happened to our forces yesterday?" Bre'sadi nodded again, "Yes. By the time we heard about it we were unable to help. At the time the Coalition's forces were spread very thin. After the event we regrouped and decided that we needed to speak with your nation about an alliance."
"I will need to leave my ship here on your systems border for continued defense of the system. . I was wondering if I could board your ship. Could you convey me to your home world?" The human Admiral waved his hand above his head, "Sure, come on over! I'll be happy to have you aboard. I'll have one of my pilots in a Long Sword guide you into one of our docking bays." "Thank you Admiral, I will leave momentarily." Bre'sadi said as he stood up. "I'll see you soon then General." The human nodded to Bre'sadi, then the transmission ended.
"Commander Zar'ak, you have command until I return." "Yes, General." Replied Bre'sadi's second in command as the commander approached the captain's chair. Bre'sadi walked to the gravity lift, entered, and keyed the lift to bring him to the ships starboard hanger bay. The lift descended to it destination.
The lift arrived moments later to the appropriate deck, and Bre'sadi stepped off the lift. The doors hissed shut behind him. As he walked down the hall and entered the bay, he was approached by the lieutenant in charge of the docking bay. The blue Elite was carrying a plasma rifle and a scout's utility belt. "Sir, It is good to see you. I thought you might want to have these just incase anything happens." The Lieutenant said as he held up the weapon and belt to Bre'sadi. "No, I want to show the humans that I trust them. If anything happens I will utilize what weapons they may have." Bre'sadi brushed by the Elite as he approached the Seraph interceptor that he would fly to the human ship.
Bre'sadi seated himself into the Seraph, then he powered the ship up. It's engines whined as it began to auto-hover above the floor of the hanger bay. The force field that sealed off the hanger from the vacuum of space changed color to indicate to Bre'sadi that he could now fly out . He eased the throttle of the ship up as he moved out of the hanger bay and into space. He then maneuvered the Seraph toward the human warship which began to gradually get bigger in Bre'sadi's view port. Once he was close to the ship, a lone human craft approached Bre'sadi's Seraph. His audio comm. system beeped as the other pilot signaled him. The general activated the comm. panel. "Hello, mate. Follow me this way to the hanger bay." Said a deeply accented voice to Bre'sadi. He didn't know what exactly the pilot meant by "mate", but Bre'sadi followed the Human craft. He was led to a large metal door on the bottom of the ship. "Just fly up in there, land on the platform, and wait for the ship to be cycled through the airlock." The human said, then he left Bre'sadi. No force fields? Thought Bre'sadi, So they really are not that advanced yet? Interesting.
The doors opened and Bre'sadi flew in, then he landed on a platform marked with a big cross. The hanger doors closed, and the platform he was on began to rise to another set of doors that opened up right below yet another set of thick metal doors. The doors below closed, and a loud thump against the Seraph indicated to Bre'sadi that the room was flooded with atmosphere. After several moments, the top doors opened and the platform raised into a large hanger bay. Once the platform stopped, several humans in uniforms jogged towards the Seraph. Bre'sadi shut down the craft, and climbed out of the Seraph. As the humans approached Bre'sadi, he couldn't help but think how funny it was that humans were so much shorter than his kind.
"Hello, Commander General. I am Admiral Leonard." the human craned his neck upward to look at Bre'sadi. Bre'sadi couldn't help but chuckle at the human's height. "What's the matter General?" The admiral said as he looked up at Bre'sadi. "Nothing, it is just that you humans seem so short to me. I just think it funny that I am looking so far down at you, that's all." The Admiral laughed shortly at the comment made by Bre'sadi. Then the Admiral pointed at Bre'sadi and jokingly said, "Hey, we may be shorter than you, but be grateful that we designed our ships with high ceilings!" The Admiral gestured to a door a few feet behind Bre'sadi. "This way then, General. I'll show you the bridge and then show you to your quarters until we reach Earth." Bre'sadi nodded his head as he followed the human.
The ships doorways were a little taller than a human, but short enough that Bre'sadi had to duck down beneath them to reach the next hallway beyond. The human Admiral turned his head behind him to look at Bre'sadi. "Were nearing the bridge now, one more hallway and we'll be there," He slowed until he was beside Bre'sadi, then he looked up at the towering alien, "By the way, I was wondering...." The Admiral was cut off by loud klaxons that sounded throughout the ship. "What the hell?" Said one of the marines escorting Bre'sadi and the Admiral. The group stopped and the Admiral pulled out a comm. link. "Captain Tyner, Report!" Yelled the Admiral. "Sir, they just popped up bellow us! I think it's Covenant, looks more advanced than their usual ships though. Its heavily armed and... Oh my god! Evasive maneuvers! Launch counter measures. What? Damn it!! Brace for impact! Admiral, Ad...Admiral, it fired some kind of... of plasma torpedo, I..." The Captain was cut off by a loud rumbling explosion that shook the entire ship. Then everything exploded around The Admiral, the Marines, and Bre'sadi. That was the last any of them saw before a shroud of unconsciousness covered them all. To be continued...
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