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0800 Hours, October 2, 2552 (Military Calendar)/
UNSC Destroyer Isaac Brock on patrol of Sirius Alpha System

The entire crew had been on edge since the Fall of Reach, the Isaac Brock had left space dock from the Epsilon Eridani system for the last time on August 26th, perhaps the closest call Captain Marcus Roland had ever known in his fifteen odd years of active service, all of which had been dominated by the Covenant's war on humanity. They had been on a routine escort mission for a civilian convoy, protecting them from pirates, when they detected the first distress signals. He could remember without the smallest gap the feeling of absolute helplessness. His orders were to safe-guard the fleet of a dozen unarmed transports; he couldn't abandon them and go head-first to Reach in the middle of a battle. He was well outside the range of a reasonable jump through slipspace to rendezvous. That really didn't help his conscience that much though, for hours he waited on edge in the middle of his circular bridge, his crew knew what he was feeling and couldn't help but feel the same way. But by the time they completed the last leg of the slip space route, new communications were coming in. The fleet was in general retreat, Reach couldn't be saved, and it was going to be glassed just like every other planet that held any trace of humanity. And there he was impotent, standing on his bridge, in the still calm Inner Colonies in orbit waiting for the last transport to descend to the planet to ferry its supplies. Millions had died or were dying on Reach, and he had been light years away.

Messages came in from FLEETCOM shortly thereafter; calling for all available vessels to assume escort duties for the few ships that managed to escape the battle. Roland and his crew saw first-hand what the Covenant had done to their forces at Reach. The rendezvoused with the cruiser Invincible less than a day after the first message from FLEETCOM, none where prepared for what they saw. The once powerful battleship had been reduced to something that more resembled molten slag. The inner hull was exposed at dozens of spots along the vessel's port and starboard sides, two of its three MACs where completely destroyed, and it was operating mostly on reserve power since its main reactor shut down due to the emergency jump from Reach. The carnage was not unfamiliar, Roland had seen the same result, and much worse countless times before, but those times it had never been so close to home. Reach was gone, the last shield Earth had was also, it was simply a matter of time.

These thoughts plagued the captain as his vessel patrolled the Sirius Alpha system, but he was careful not to show it. His crew relied on him to be strong and so he never gave even the slightest hint of his inner thoughts to public display.

"Apollo, did those readings amount to anything?" Roland asked the shipboard AI.

"According to the preliminary scans I believe it was nothing more than magnetic interference due to the sun's solar activity," the translucent green figure declared from his pedestal. "I have detected very similar readings over the past week."

"Hmmm." Roland scratched his beard. There was something afoot, he could feel it in his blood, but he couldn't place it. "Lieutenant Farrell open a private channel to Captain Reece."

"Captain I am more than capable of sending over all relevant data and…" Apollo began to say.

"No, I think I can handle the transmission myself Apollo," Roland declared, bruising the AI's ego if he'd had one.

"Channel's open sir," Farrell announced, as he turned his chair around to face the captain in the middle of the bridge. The lieutenant was still very young, and this was only his second tour onboard a combat vessel, but what he lacked in experience he made up for enthusiasm as it were.

"I'll take it in my quarters, lieutenant."

"Yes sir."

"Commander Yakasora you have the bridge," the captain declared as he left the command centre of his ship to the elevator that was only a few bulkheads behind it. Roland had a lot on his mind, and he wanted nothing more than to stop the elevator and go instead to the officer's mess, sit and casually sip away a cup of soup broth that only UNSC-issue food dispensers could provide. But he was on duty, and had been for only two hours, there was a long trip ahead of him still. So the elevator descended until at last it stopped on the deck his quarters were on. When he had finally reached his chair the communication line was already present, and only waited for his clearance to open it. So Roland punched into the keypad: 05112546SAMANTHA.

He still had no recollection of why he'd used that password ever since his sister's death, she had been just a civilian, not combat personnel but the Covenant didn't care, she was slaughtered just like the rest of them that were caught in Far Light City when the dropships arrived. Never had a chance, that's all there was to say, and so every time he typed that code in Roland remembered the last time he had a chance to see her. Now though it made him all the more uneasy.

Then the image of the thirty-two year old Captain Cynthia Reece appeared on his monitor. She was a sight to behold, no amount of military regulation could hide that, but at the same time she was a brilliant naval tactician, one of the few still in command of a combat vessel. She was in command of the second UNSC vessel in the system on patrol, the Prophet Muhammad performing a geosynchronous orbit over Sirius Alpha I the largest of the system's ten planets, and the only one with a human population.

"Good morning captain," Roland declared over the channel.

"Thank you captain," she replied in kind then paused momentarily. "Well I think that's enough formality, how did you sleep Marcus?"

"With a little bit of trouble, this assignment gives me a bad feeling," he admitted. "I would really like to just head back to Alpha Centuri right now, dock in orbit and spend two weeks with you on the reservation doing nothing but laying in the forest and getting the regulations out of our minds."

"You hopeless romantic," she mocked with a smile. "But that does remind me the Muhammad is due for a re-supply after this mission. I'm sure that FLEETCOM would recommend that we have an escort back to space dock."

"At your service," Roland said chuckling. "I think the crew likes having another ship around anyway, it does get lonely out here."

"Is that why you called me Marcus? Are you lonely?" She teased.

"No Captain Reece, I have an update on our latest scans," Roland declared resuming a mock tone of formality with his lover.

"You must be joking."

"No I'm afraid this was an entirely procedural message," he continued but was then unable to maintain his fake sternness. "Well at least it was supposed to be a formal report."

"Captain Marcus Roland," Reece said slowly, almost one syllable at a time like a mother berating her child. "You had better be careful, I don't take no for an answer." She laughed. "In all seriousness was there any news?"

"Only inconclusive scans from a magnetic surge Apollo detected three hours ago, he says that it was most likely because of the solar activity, nothing to worry about."

"Sounds exciting, the only thing larger than a book out there was a comet we detected on long range sensors. It's just a routine as usual."

"I don't really mind all that much, it gives me more time to practice my game and beat you Cynthia."

"I beat you three times straight the first time we met Marcus, you would have to catch me on a terrible day if you were looking to win at squash."

"Well Captain if you're not busy tonight when you're finished your duty shift you can take a Pelican over here and we can test that theory," Roland challenged.

"Loser, makes dinner?"

"Fine with me."

"All right then, I'll be there at 1700 hours, captain."

"1700, I'll be looking forward to it."

"Not as much as I will be Marcus, bye," then she kissed her two fingers and touched them to the monitor just before closing the channel. It was remarkable just how far away she was yet she was still so close to him. Combat duty afforded little in the way of comfort, and he had to bend the rules just to have a little. In any case he would look forward to tonight, but in the meantime he was needed back on the bridge.

"Apollo," Roland said into a newly opened shipboard COM channel.

"Yes Captain," the colder synthetic voice answered.

"Have two extra Marine squads on-duty for this shift."

"Sir, there are absolutely no inbound contacts to report," the AI tried to protest.

"Sometimes sensors can be wrong Apollo, and I have a feeling this is one of those times. I'll be on the bridge in two minutes." Then the captain closed the channel and left his quarters towards the elevator.

"Marine Company C Squads three and seven report for active duty to Deck Four Section K Armory," Apollo's voice declared ship wide just as Roland was about to step back onto the bridge. Everyone appeared complacent, without any activity most of the bridge crew found themselves without much to do.

"Nothing unusual to report, Captain," Yakasora declared as soon as he recognized his superior return to the bridge.

"Good, return to your post Commander." The second highest ranking officer then returned to man the ship's weapon's console. Normally someone of Yakasora's rank would have been in command of a lighter class vessel, a scout, corvette, or even a frigate, but ships were not in abundance.

"Ensign Seville take us to the edge of the system for a quick pass. Keep the engine's below twenty percent there's no use wasting power," Roland instructed.

"Aye sir, engines ahead at fifteen percent," the youngest member of Roland's bridge crew declared from her chair near the front of the bridge. The captain at least felt comfortable within the domain of his bridge, he had a good crew manning the vessel and talent filled her from stem to stern.

Roland sighed heavily, as he watched his vessel's course through the main viewscreen. Every second hundreds, if not thousands of micrometeorites impacted against the reinforced Titanium-A hull of the Isaac Brock, but left at most a nearly invisible dimple. Trivial thoughts were calming; it took the worry off of everyday life. Roland wondered if Apollo ever became preoccupied in thought, he just another "dumb" AI but calculations scrolled across his body just like every other showing the computations he cycled through even when just operating under routine conditions.

The lumbering destroyer slowly passed by Sirius Alpha I and its two moons, the Prophet Muhammad was on the far side of the planet by that time still orbiting above the planet's single colony. That wasn't to say that it was small, there were four million civilians tucked within a single habitable continent. It housed nothing of great importance, the UNSC had only a single base of operations on the planet and no orbital facilities save a few dozen satellites. It was a peaceful and scarcely populated world, which would have been more commonly found in what once was the Outer Colonies, but Sirius Alpha I had just never expanded as most of the Inner Colonies did. Why the Covenant would care about it Roland could not fathom except that he knew they were out to destroy anything at all human.

"ETA to our destination?" Roland inquired.

"Thirty-eight minutes, depending on future course corrections, sir," Apollo declared before Seville could respond.

"Increase power to engines, twenty percent, ensign."

"Aye sir."

How much longer could he stay on alert? The space before him was peaceful, there were only stars and rocks out there he see for himself. It was just one more patrol, another mission to be done, not particularly unique. Roland took a deep breath, and leaned on the railing in front of him.

"Marine details in place sir," Apollo announced.

"Very well, maintain situation until-"

"Captain!" Farrell nearly yelled from his station. "Incoming distress signal I can't get a location yet, its audio only."

"Put it on speakers lieutenant," Roland ordered.

"… To any UNSC forces in the sector this is Commodore Carlos Zedillo we are being pursued by a Covenant vessel and have taken heavy damage." Suddenly static consumed the channel.

"Lieutenant, what's wrong?"

"I don't know sir, but I'm seeing these readings correctly the transmission is originating in slip space. I'll try to reestablish the connection."

"Apollo." Roland passed along his intentions with a single word to the AI.

"Yes sir, I'll assist the lieutenant as well." Roland grew more at ease with the sudden change of pace; at least the waiting was over, for better or worse. "All combat personnel report to battle stations, prepare for contact with Covenant forces."

"Sir," Farrell said to get the captain's attention. "I've got them back. It's still a little garbled but hopefully it will do." The communications officer switched the bridge speakers back on.

"Repeat, this is Commodore Zedillo of the UNSC Confidence. We are being pursued by a Covenant vessel and have suffered…" Static consumed the channel momentarily. "enroute to the Sirius star system after making a blind jump. Request reinforcements…" Then the static resumed.

"Damn," was all Roland could say off the bat. The entire purpose of the Cole Protocol and random exit vectors was to prevent this exact situation from occurring. The chance that the vector would lead anywhere remotely close to the Inner Colonies was a million to one chance. "Lieutenant Farrell make sure that Captain Reece received the transmission. Commander, charge the MACs, and prime Archer missile pods A1 through D3."

"Aye sir." The two officers declared almost in unison.

"Apollo, search for the Confidence in the UNSC database, and initiate the Cole Protocol."

"Immediately sir," the AI replied.

"MAC capacitors at twenty percent and charging at five percent per second," Yakasora declared.

"Captain Reece and the Prophet acknowledging and responding they are en-route to us ETA four minutes," Farrell said.

"All right, come to a full stop, have all crew move out from the outer most decks of the ship and seal them once it's clear. Do we have an estimate to when the Confidence at her pursuer are going to jump in system?"

Apollo was slightly backlogged with all the processes, within only a few seconds, but quickly recovered. "The calculations are extraordinarily circumstantial due to the number of variables however I estimate their arrival to be in ten minutes."

"And what about the Confidence?"

"Very unusual Captain it appears that she is a Marathon class cruiser, however it was last reported at the Battle of Venator VIII almost a year ago. According to official UNSC records it was disabled by Covenant pulse lasers and had to be abandoned along with the rest of the vessels too damaged to retreat when the Covenant fleet began to incinerate the planet. It is listed as destroyed with all hand aboard."

"But there was no vessel in the area to say for certain that it was destroyed isn't that correct?" The Captain inquired.

"Sir, the Covenant has never been known to take prisoners much less an entire vessel. If the Confidence was disabled then it would have been destroyed in any case. I would suggest extreme caution before allowing the vessel passage into UNSC airspace."

Roland didn't want to believe what Apollo was saying, but he couldn't neglect the risk. There was a chance the Confidence was nothing more than a Covenant rouse. The lives of his crew were too important to risk on an assumption.

"All right, give me a channel to the Prophet Muhammad and request Fort Gibraltar send whatever reinforcements they can muster from Sirius Alpha I, if the Covenant are coming we'll need everything we can get."

"Channel open, sir," Farrell exclaimed.

"Captain," Roland said over the communications channel. "What do you make of the situation?"

"If it really is the Confidence then Zedillo has a lot of explaining to do. I'm keeping my distance from whatever enters the system one way or another, and I think it's best if you do the same."

"And the Covenant?"

"My only feeling is to open fire immediately and don't stop until their dead in space, captain," Reece declared.

"Agreed, bring the Prophet to our starboard side," Roland ordered, and then he turned to the AI pedestal. "Apollo, synchronize our firing solutions to maximize the effect of the MAC rounds."

"Computing," the synthetic voice announced. "Done, and may I also recommend that we prepare the remaining Archer missile pods for launch?"

"Yakasora," Roland turned to his weapons officer. "Arm all remaining missile pods and set for proximity detonation."

"Fort Gibraltar responding sir," Farrell spoke up. "A wing of Longswords are inbound on our position. ETA twenty minutes."

"All right, we're as ready as we're ever going to be," the captain announced. "Apollo, how long until the Confidence arrives?"

"Just under six minutes."

"All right send out a transmission to both FLEETCOM and Alpha Sirius I informing them of our situation, and request any additional reinforcements available," Roland ordered. Then he calmed down slightly and took a seat in the command chair. "Now the waiting game."

The battle klaxons still rang through the entire ship as it was on combat alert, every officer, marine, navy tech, man, and woman knew their purpose and they went about it without hesitation. The Isaac Brock was a well timed machine with every person aboard a fully functional component. Captain Roland was ready for a fight, his crew needed a victory, and hell Earth needed a victory too. No matter how small it would be, after the loss of Reach it was a necessity. Three minutes passed in what felt more like three hours. The Prophet Mohammad had assumed its position starboard of Roland's vessel and now both ships waited with their guns primed and ready.

The captain was standing behind Yakasora monitoring the status of the MAC gun charge when the ship's communications officer piped up.

"Sir Admiral Krüger from Alpha Centuri is sending a transmission," Farrell declared.

"Put him through immediately."

The lieutenant tapped a couple of controls at his console before the Admiral's voice erupted through the bridge comm system. "Captain, I've been informed of your status, but the closest expendable forces we have to you are over ten hours away."

"Yes sir," Roland was forced into acceptance.

"Only one Covenant vessel was listed en-route correct? That's hardly an invasion force. I'm ordering you and Captain Reece to maintain a defense of Sirius Alpha I. However if you encounter a more powerful opposition you are to break for the planet try and get as many civilians out as possible then execute a blind jump out of the system."

"What about the Confidence?" Roland asked his superior.

"That ship was lost almost a year ago, the Covenant are up to something, be on guard, Krüger out."

Roland didn't know what to make of it, two destroyers versus an unknown Covenant vessel. It really should have been a straightforward mission, they outnumbered their enemy. They should have been able to beat them back or at least give them a strong show of force before enemy reinforcements arrived. The plan was just too simple on paper to be true.

"Apollo, send Captain Reece our new orders," Roland said.

"The Prophet Muhammad replies that orders have been received and acknowledged," the AI said.

"Good, get the Pelican crews to their birds just in case-" the captain began to say before Ensign Seville interrupted.

"Captain!" She exclaimed. "Vessel exiting from slipspace, distance 3000 km."

"What is she?" The captain inquired, feeling the sweat begin to moisten his forehead

"It's one of ours, sir," the ensign said with surprise. "Marathon class cruiser UNSC designation Confidence."

"Activate engines," Roland ordered. "Close the distance between us."

"Captain, need I remind you that this could still be a potential trap," Apollo cautioned

"No you don't, one way or another we need to get closer, and the MACs won't be able to even hit it if it was a threat at this distance."

"Captain, another vessel exiting slipspace, this one's just outside of the system," Seville announced. "Sir it's Covenant!"

Apollo quickly switched on the long range camera array focusing on the new arrival. The vessel was enormous, at least five times as long as either one of the two UNSC ships. Its surfaces were smooth and curved, the entire vessel resembled something more organic than mechanical. Roland had seen these before, a Covenant heavy cruiser, officially designated as CSC class cruiser, it was more than a match for a comparable class UNSC vessel, and the problem was his destroyer was outclassed even by that.

"Apollo, can you make out any distinction marks or anything on that cruiser to tell us what it is?" The UNSC over years of fighting the Covenant slowly amassed a registry of known enemy vessels, hopefully to estimate just what size of armada they actually wielded. Unfortunately so many vessels were without records because they simply left no witnesses to report them.

"Negative captain, but based on its structural basis and energy readings it appears to be a standard Covenant heavy cruiser, normal armament of plasma torpedoes, and pulse lasers."

"Captain, incoming message from Captain Reece," Farrell exclaimed.

"Put her on."

"Captain, I think it's best if we keep our distance from the Confidence, I'm detected low power levels, they could be trying to hide something from us."

"We can't afford to wait, if there is still a crew left on her then their as good as dead once that Covenant cruiser decides to make a pinpoint jump in system."

"I hope you know what you're doing," she concluded.

Roland wished he knew what he was doing as well. "Get me a channel through to the Confidence and put us between her and that cruiser out there."

"Captain all I'm getting is static, their communications looks like it was severely damaged," the lieutenant declared, but a second later a momentary breath of life seemed to appear. "Wait a minute, there was a flash signal; give me a second to connect us. There I got it!"

"UNSC vessels this is Commodore Zedillo," an unclean signal said through the communications system.

"We read you commodore, I'm Captain Marcus Roland UNSC Isaac Brock what is your status?"

"The majority of our weapons systems have been destroyed or disabled and engines should be operating at 10% in about five minutes. We used the last of our juice to get us through slipspace, and there are hull breaches on nearly every deck," the beleaguered commodore said.

"Hold tight, we can't send over any personnel to assist you yet, but once you have your engines online plot a course for Sirius Alpha I, we'll retask the Longswords to escort you there."

"Thank you captain."

That was one problem dealt with, but that just left the most dangerous one still holding position on the far edge of the system. It appeared to be a classic duel, no obstructions save a few hundred thousand kilometers of vacuum between them. The opponents starred one another down, but unlike the UNSC vessels with weapons armed and ready the Covenant vessel was passive, with power levels at a minimum. Just like two knights before a medieval joust the opposing sides didn't budge an inch. Two six hundred ton MAC rounds were being held back only by a magnetic force which would soon propel it to just over a tenth of the speed of light.

On the bridge of the Isaac Brock however, Captain Roland was not as unshakeable as his vessel was. The enemy position bothered him, why didn't they attack? The Covenant were known for their ferocity in battle, almost charging head on despite the risks. Their tactics here didn't match, they obviously wanted the Confidence else they wouldn't have chased it all the way through slipspace. A cruiser was also powerful enough to destroy their two destroyers, at least in the eye of the Covenant. Where they calling for reinforcements? That was unlikely, the Covenant never waited for back-up unless they were challenged by an overwhelming opposition, and even then it was only fifty percent of the time.

"Commodore Zedillo," Roland said to the other vessel once he'd opened a new channel. "Was this the only vessel to pursue you?"

"Yes, we were in the Epsilon Eridani system when this cruiser jumped in and spotted us, we engaged but took heavy damage and were forced to retreat."

"You were at Reach?" the captain said nearly letting his jaw slip to the floor. The commodore was about to respond when a jolt shook forward portion of the Isaac Brock. "Apollo what the hell was that?"

The AI ran a quick series of analyses spanning no more than a second. "Enemy single ship fighters, Seraphs, at least a dozen of them sir. They powered down to escape detection."

"Apollo, get me firing solutions on as many as you can then lock them into the Archer guidance packages. Those bastards are going to get a high yield explosive present."

"Aye sir," the AI acknowledged. It took another brief instant to process then complete the order. "Solutions locked and ready."

"Commander, take them out." Yakasora initiated the launch and five separate plumes of rocket exhaust emerged from the Isaac Brock, the Prophet Muhammad replied in kind only a second later launching six more.

All around the two destroyers fire was exchanged as the Seraphs took potshots at the destroyers and tried to evade the missiles that pursued them. One fighter along with his wingman were both killed when Archers from two different directions encroached on them, and in the process of making an evasive maneuver the two collided and the missiles were retasked to additional targets. The Seraph's weapons weren't capable of penetrating the two meters of Titanium-A that protected both destroyers but they persisted even as one by one they were tracked down and destroyed by the missiles.

When only a handful remained one Seraph pursued by a missile, swung in for a strafing run on the Prophet Muhammad. It fired a quick burst of plasma damaging a patch of the destroyer's armor, but rather than turn, it accelerated into the hull. From every corner of the ship the impact could be felt as the Seraph crushed itself against the rigid exterior. While the crash along wasn't enough to breach the armor the missile that had been pursuing the Seraph was too fast for any AI to reprogram and impacted in the same spot as the collision. The explosive force ripped through the remaining armor and gouged a four meter hole in the Prophet's hull decompression the entire section and taking three unfortunate crew members into the vacuum before the blast doors were secured.

It wasn't a minute after the impact that danger presented itself again, in an instant the cruiser that once waited at the edge of the system disappeared into slipspace, but before the AIs or officers of either ship could alert their captains the Covenant warship reappeared just over ten kilometers in front of the destroyers.

"Lock in both firing solutions for the MACs and fire!" Roland exclaimed. Yakasora didn't even bother with a response and instead ensured that Apollo's firing solutions were active then launched then fired the heavy rounds. Two streaks emerged from each of the destroyers towards the cruiser on almost the same vector. "Give full power to engines, and move us back to at least fifty kilometers from that cruiser, ensign."

The powerful roar of the main engines came to life as the destroyer jolted forward, and then began to turn to port. The Prophet was not far behind in making its turn to starboard. The MAC rounds in the meantime accelerated towards the cruiser and struck right at the vessels nose. All four slammed into the shields less than twenty meters apart from the furthest round away from it, a tribute to the AI's accuracy. The momentum of the rounds lit up the shields across the entire vessel it was a battle of tug o' war between the momentum of four six hundred ton ferric-tungsten shells and an alien energy shield. The shield's force drained the inertia from the MAC rounds and slowed them from instantly from their initial speed. The shields lit up but right as it appeared the MAC rounds didn't have enough in them the shields gave out under the pressure. The four shells with what ever momentum they had left slammed against the hull of the cruiser slamming its nose it over ten meters further into the hull and visibly venting atmosphere.

Roland watched the whole event through the rear monitor as his vessel was now only four kilometers away from the cruiser and his firing arc perpendicular to the enemy. He didn't like his situation but it was the fastest way to put some distance between them and the enemy. If they stayed this close there would be no room to evade incoming plasma torpedoes. The response was quick, beams of blue light struck both destroyers melting away the Titanium armor that guarded them.

"Pulse lasers sir," Seville reported. Armor integrity on decks D-J are at forty percent, no hull breaches though." Roland was feeling lucky so far.

"Isaac Brock this is Foxtrot Ranger Seven on station, what are your orders?" the commander of the Longsword squadron asked.

"Escort the Confidence back to Sirius Alpha I, keep the Covenant off of her she's taken heavy damage and operating on minimal power," Roland declared.

"Roger that, Foxtrot Ranger Seven Out."

The situation then got gravely worse. "Captain the Covenant vessel is turning and bringing its torpedo turrets to bear," Apollo declared. Both the Prophet and Isaac Brock were facing with their backs to the enemy pulling back at full speed but the plasma could outrun them any way.

Blood red light pooled along three separate points of the cruiser's hull, the enemy could destroy every UNSC vessel there in a single volley. Captain Roland faced a serious dilemma, and his opposition was holding all the trump cards now.

"Status of the MAC guns?" Roland inquired.

"Seventy percent and climbing at a rate of 4 percent per second," Yakasora answered.

"Maintain the charge and fire on my orders. Load all fore and aft Archer missile pods as well," the captain ordered. "Ensign, push the engines to one-hundred twenty percent, full forward thrust, heading zero three one four."

"Apollo, send word to the Prophet to set their course at a heading of zero one three six, and to match speed with us. I've got something in store for those Covenant bastards."

The two destroyers pushed on ahead as the cruiser continued to bombard them with sporadic pulse laser hits along the armor bring portions to dangerously low depths and hull breaches in two cases. That was only harassment though, the big guns were fully charged now. The light had collected into three massive points along the cruiser's hull before being simultaneously launched at the three UNSC vessels. Only seconds after launch the targets of each torpedo was clear by its vector, two headed straight for the Isaac Brock while the third was on course for the Prophet. For the time being the Covenant didn't have an interest in the crippled cruiser, which was fortunate since it was a sitting duck.

"Torpedoes away! Impact in one minute ten seconds," Seville announced from his console.

"Get me the Prophet now!" Roland burst. Farrell typed furiously at the console then announced his success. "Transfer your helm and weapon control to your AI, captain. I've got a plan but our two ships have to be in sync for it to work."

"I think I know where you going with this," Reece declared. "Good luck captain, helm and weapons are in your hands now."

"Captain!" Seville exclaimed. "Impact in thirty seconds."

Roland had to act fast. He approached the navigation station and entered a new set of coordinates. "Apollo, on my mark engage emergency thrusters and move us to this spot, same goes with the Prophet."

"Fifteen seconds, sir." Seville said with ever increasing urgency. It wasn't just because of the intensity of the situation that the temperature had risen, the two spheres of superheated gas that pursued them were affecting the internal climate as well.

"Rear camera now!" Roland commanded furiously, then the two plasma bolts appeared on the viewscreen so close he could almost touch them.

"Ten seconds."

The captain gripped the railing with his powerful clinched fists. "Fire all rear missiles at the cruiser!"

"Eight seconds."

"Apollo, engage thrusters on my mark."

"Four seconds, three, two…"

"MARK!" Then the entire ship rocked as a sudden thrust pushed the vessel to port and together with the main engines still pushing forward put the lumbering destroyer into a tight turn. At the same time the Prophet Muhammad which was on a diverging course executed the same maneuver turning tightly to starboard and putting both vessels in a similar position as they were before.

The crew was shaken by the sudden maneuver but the plasma had passed by them and couldn't make a U-turn as quickly as the destroyers had. The two destroyers were now lined side by side traveling directly towards the Covenant cruiser's starboard side at full speed now.

"Captain, engines at critical temp the coolant can't hold it," Seville declared.

"Dump primary coolant and pump in the reserves, prepare to transfer all power to the MAC capacitors, I want to get off four quick shots."

"Aye captain, reserve coolant active. It'll be good for about five minutes at most."

"Apollo, target the enemy engines, and send it to the Prophet," Roland declared. "Commander launch all remaining forward Archer missiles, every pod, make sure they're empty."

Rocket plumes spread out from both vessels as hundreds of missiles took off. "The plasma torpedoes have turned about and are on an intercept course. ETA fifty and eighty seconds."

"Firing solutions prepared and ready," the AI said calmly.

"Commander fire the MACs!" Then the four heavy rounds emerged from both destroyers heading straight towards the cruiser's aft. "All stop. Dump engine power into the capacitors."

"Aye sir, all stop." Seville replied.

"MACs at ten percent and charging at eight percent per second," Yakasora announced.

"Direct all the missiles towards the starboard side of the cruiser, see if we can't take out those plasma turrets once the shields are down."

"Acknowledged, sir," Apollo's translucent figure said.

The MAC rounds already accelerated by the initial velocity of the two destroyers closed the distance to the cruiser even faster than normal. This time as the four rounds collided with the shield the struggle was far more one sided. After expending so much energy to the plasma torpedoes, regenerating the shields from nothing, and a pinpoint jump only minutes beforehand the MAC rounds broke through in just under a second maintaining much of their momentum. The super dense shells rammed into the rear of the vessel, crushing, or splitting anything in their path. All four passed straight through from one side of the cruiser to the other. They tore a hole three quarters the size of one of the destroyers into the cruiser's rear and rapid decompression ripped away even more.

Just as the damage was being assessed by the observers onboard the destroyers a second salvo of four shells was launched this time aimed at the center of the cruiser in the hopes of hitting the command centre. To add to the Covenant difficulties the Archer missiles had caught up and despite the cruisers best attempts to fend them off with pulse lasers there were too many to stop them all. Approximately fifty missiles blossomed against the side of the cruiser tearing away the metal plating revealing the superstructure.

The plasma torpedo pursuing the Prophet Muhammad suddenly lost it cohesion and dissipated into the vacuum, the magnetic field controlling it was destroyed when the missiles impacted. The other two remained on a steady course towards the Isaac Brock

"Our MAC rounds will hit in twenty seconds but the torpedoes are still on route. The first one is going to hit us at the same time as we get them," Seville informed the captain.

"Best possible speed turn us about, get everyone in the rear sections out of there on the double!" The captain could order it but the reactions just weren't that fast. The heavy vessel no sooner could start its engines then the impact of the first torpedo. The burning ball of plasma struck the destroyer on the rear port side instantly vaporizing the two meters of Titanium-A armor that protected the ship. The plasma continued inwards consuming more and more, and completely melting one of the vessel's primary engines before continuing on. Secondary explosions began to erupt as the atmosphere within the hull was ignited.

On the bridge the effect was quick, main power disappeared instantly, Apollo stayed online only because of battery reserves. Captain Roland didn't even get up from the metal deck where he fell after the impact of the plasma. "Vent the atmosphere in all affected sections!"

"Yes sir," Apollo replied with the unwavering calmness that an AI could have at that time. The captain knew that at that moment he'd probably condemned at least fifty if not a hundred brave souls to their deaths but they were dead from the plasma anyway. He had more pressing concerns to deal with.

"Lieutenant Farrell get me Captain Reece." But when he turned to face the officers console there were only sparks, and charred metal. Farrell laid sprawled on the deck not moving.

"Captain, the other torpedo," Seville alerted him. The viewscreen despite taking damage from an overhead bulkhead was still operating and monitoring the rear camera array. The second plasma torpedo was only seconds away from hitting them nearly in the identical spot as the first one which would gut the ship straight through.

"Apollo what's our status? Can we move?"

"Primary systems down, radar and sensors down, communications offline. Reserve power in one minute." It wasn't enough, Captain Roland could see no other solution then to stand firmly in the middle of his bridge, pull his ruffled uniform down and watch as his demise approached. Every second an eternity.

"Good work, everyone." He said as a conclusion to his life, but it was not to be. Just as the camera appeared to show nothing other than a burning red inferno, a blackness obscured the view. Followed by a knock that shook the ship but nothing near the impact they'd expected. The viewscreen then cleared showing only empty space. The captain couldn't understand what had happened; he threw orders out frantically to find out what had transpired. The viewscreen flipped from array to array to find one with an explanation of what had gone on until across the screen Roland saw the Confidence venting atmosphere and in a slow roll, missing nearly a quarter of its hull at the bottom the obvious result of a plasma torpedo.

They'd been saved the jaws of death, and it was time to repay the favor the captain felt. "When will we have reserve power?"

"Ten seconds," Apollo replied quickly.

"Yakasora can we fire off another MAC round?"

The commander was slow to reply, his console was barely running and blood ran down his forehead into his eyes. "The coils of number one are fused, there's no chance we can use it. The other one is damaged but may be operable I can't tell from up here, we'll need an engineering team to double-check the systems."

"Apollo, get a hold of engineering and have them send a team to the MAC guns."

"Sir, I cannot. Engineering was almost completely destroyed, and all the atmosphere has been vented," the AI replied. "I will locate personnel once the internal sensors are back on."

The captain clasped his hands over his face. So many lost, but he had to keep going. "Give me a view of the enemy cruiser."

Apollo switched arrays but without the aid of sensors it was a process of trial and error to locate the Covenant vessel. It was found though, and to Roland's amazement it was still in the fight and moving towards the wounded Isaac Brock and Confidence.

"Captain Roland respond. This is the Prophet Muhammad, please reply." The voice of the UNSC destroyer's communications officer said over the restored system.

"Roland here. We've been hit badly. Primary power is gone and we're operating on reserves, engines are history and weapons are questionable."

"Okay captain, we'll try and finish her off but our MAC system was disabled, and we're running low on missiles," Reece explained. "I'm redirecting the Longswords to protect you and strafe the cruiser."

The situation was desperate, the two destroyers had thrown everything they had at the cruiser and it definitely showed it but the UNSC was still the one on the downside. Twelve MAC rounds and scores of missiles yet the Covenant continued on. It was a Tsunami, a tidal wave that could not be stopped nor withstood, it simply consumed everything it its path. A stream of pulse lasers erupted from the cruiser and struck on the bow armor, which had suffered the least so far but was quickly breached in two spots.

"Missile pods A1 and F6 destroyed sir," Yakasora declared.

It could be worse, Roland thought. They were out of missiles anyway.

The cruiser continued to approach however, it was unwavering. The four Longswords swooped in from behind the Isaac Brock delivering a payload of heavy ordinance to the Covenant vessel. Pulse lasers returned fire catching one pilot on the wing and sending the entire vessel into a fatal spin before it was destroyed by the subsequent stress of the rotation. The other three diverted off to prepare for another attack run.

Roland almost saw it as pointless, the ship had taken eleven heavy MAC rounds according Apollo, one from the last volley was evaded, and yet it still pressed on and fired. The silhouette just grew larger and larger on the viewscreen.

"Ensign Seville where is the Prophet?" The captain asked.

"Five kilometers to port on an intercept course with the cruiser," the young officer replied. "But she's not going to make it here before the Covenant will."

"Commander what about the MAC?"

"No response sir, its inoperable."

Captain Marcus Roland breathed deep, it seemed that he was out of options, save one. "Apollo set the ship for self-destruct, rig the fusion reactors to overload. Have all hands abandon ship." He looked around at the remains of his bridge, despite all the hell they had been through the two Marines assigned to guard the bridge were still present and Crewmen Petrov and Callum still manned their stations. "Everyone, get to the escape pod."

No matter how solemn a moment it was, the bridge crew fled quickly to the command escape pod. Only the captain remained behind, standing alone beside the holographic AI pedestal, watching the cruiser grow closer, still firing the occasional burst of pulse laser fire.

"Apollo, what is the blast radius of the fusion reactors under overload?"

"Three kilometers," the AI replied quickly.

"And how far is the enemy cruiser?"

"Three point eight and closing."

"Set the self destruct, priority Alpha, authorization Roland, Marcus C. code 05112546SAMANTHA. Detonate on confirmation that the area is clear of all UNSC vessels and personnel."

"Affirmative captain."

"Thank you Apollo." The projection disappeared within the pedestal and didn't return. It was a sorrow goodbye to a good ship but a necessary one.

But before the captain could turn to leave, new objects appeared on the tactical display. Double checking the viewscreen he saw a dozen Archer missiles strike the Covenant cruiser's rear. For another moment it flew straight but then began to drift to port. As it turned the damage could be seen, the last missiles struck the only part of the ship that kept the engines and rear quarter of the ship still attached to the rest of the superstructure. Without it the cruiser no longer had control and lost power.

"Apollo, cancel the self destruct." Roland ordered as he watched the ruined vessel lose control and alter course erratically. Apollo issued a message for any remaining crew to remain aboard as the self destruct was abandoned. The captain could not however look away from the screen as the broken and beaten cruiser continued to glide through space. The bridge crew which had been waiting for the captain at the escape pod returned just in time to see the Covenant cruiser break apart as a number of explosions rippled through the interior of the vessel. They refused to allow the vessel to be taken in anything less than a million pieces.

Unwavering to the end, Roland thought, but at least it was their end not ours.

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