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Instalation Zero Six-Chapter Five: Calm Before the Storm
Posted By: Samslink14<Samslink14@AOL.com>
Date: 12 January 2007, 5:35 am
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A silent sort of brooding was on the bridge of the Silent Eye, the throbbing of the engines and the click of techs typing at their stations. It had been a day since they had leaped from the rebel system, traveling at maximum speed through slipspace to Damascus III. During the trip, the bridge personnel with nothing to do were assigned with Commander Kigar to figure out a strategy against the Covenant once they jumped back into real space. It was pure impossible to beat them. There was sure to be no more than six ships at the planet, and even with the defense system there, there was no way that they could hold back twenty-six Covenant ships.
The planet defense was their greatest advantage. Kigar knew the planet well enough, and pulled all the files he had on the system. The entire planet of Damascus III was surrounded by a large and extremely dense asteroid field. There were many openings in the field of course, but most were too small to even fit a cruiser or destroyer through. Some of the largest openings could probably allow the Covenant frigates to trickle in one-by-one, single file, but doing such would take a very long time. The largest opening was the main entrance and pretty much the only way in, unless the Covenant wanted to take a few days to get in and out. The thing that might make them think twice about entering through the main entrance was the single Super MAC gun station floating there, rightfully titled Duran's Gate, named after the commander of the ship that built the station, directly in the center and commanding the entire pass.
Everyone knew the story of the MAC super guns now, and they had a record of being the best weapon against the Covenant, destroying any ship on a single impact. Super conductive linear accelerator coils larger than a UNSC cruiser were used as the MAC's firing mechanism. The weapons could fire a three-thousand-ton super-dense ferric tungsten shell right through a Covenant cruiser. They were the most powerful non-nuclear weapon in the entire UNSC's arsenal. Now it may be the only thing that could delay the Covenant long enough to raise FLEETCOM and get help.
Lieutenant Kay spoke from the navigations consol. "Commander. We are passing the halfway point to the Damascus system in fourteen seconds."
The Commander responded gratefully. "Thank you lieutenant, keep me posted."
"Sir."
Honestly, it would have helped a whole lot more if they could figure out exactly where they were coming out of slipspace, but unfortunately for the Humans, their jumps were not that precise. They varied by hundreds of kilometers. They could warp next to the Covenant fleet, or they could come out a half hour's distance away from it. The best they could do was hope, and figure out a way to use the Silent Eye's single SHIVA nuke to slow down and destroy as many Covenant ships as possible.
The SHIVA was really the only option. The HAVOC nukes could do some damage as well, but they could use both HAVOC's on a single Covenant frigate and it might still not destroy it, while a SHIVA was certain to destroy even a cruiser. It was their best hope.
"Nine hours to real space Sir." Said Lieutenant Kay.
***
"Tremaine, show the schematics." Captain Ferald ordered, opening one of the five projectors on The Victor's bridge for the detailed 3D plans.
"Uploading to you now Sir." The AI responded. A purplish blue flash appeared above the projector, transforming into a small shipyard, two square kilometers large. One fourth of the plans were highlighted, the part that was already finished. "I'm afraid that despite our preparation Sir, our lack of actual construction-based ships is making this operation difficult."
The Captain responded in kind. "I know Tremaine, but it will be worth it all when completed. I figure that if I have all this useful equipment on my ship, I might as well use it instead of losing it all when we get hit with three plasma torpedoes."
"A valid point Sir. On average, 80 percent of the equipment and Marines onboard cruisers are not even used. The cruisers are destroyed before they have a chance to deploy them."
"And this is the entire reason we have all this stuff. To build things like this. Now if we keep it up, we can finish this within the next month or two. Depending on how things go, The Victor will jump to Reach when it is half way done. If the problems stay down, the shipyard could be finished and halfway done with a frigate by the time we return. I'll be throwing that in the Admiral's faces."
"Good luck when that time comes Sir. I have no doubt that our superiors will readily begin to create a second Reach here. Super MAC platforms, training bases, shipyards, the whole of a space-built military base."
"I'm glad. Our works here should win the Human race some hope back."
"Semper Fi, Sir."
***
The bridge of the Illumination was obstreperous. The busy techs talking back and forth were finishing final preparations for the leap back to real space. The countdown was half a unit. Now was the time that the Elite Fleet Master named Huta Fummamee began to expand his chest in anticipation of this final step. If he was correct, soon they would be on their way to Halo.
"A third of a unit from real space, Excellency."
"Very good." Fummamee responded. He waited, counting the time mentally in his head, watching the currently black view screen for the first glimpse of the system, hoping for quick entry.
"Reverting to real space now." The tech said, entering keys that would pull them back to normal speeds. With a suddenness, the atmosphere in the bridge changed, stomachs giving a pulling sensation before the moment passed. "We are currently in real space, Excellency. Powering up systems now." The view screen first showed stars, then a large asteroid field. Fummamee's eyes glittered as they greedily searched for the planet that held their key prize. All eyes searched the maps and monitors for it, but however, none found the prize.
Time passed. A chill followed Fummamee's back. Did we go to the wrong place? He thought. The wrong direction? It's not here! Where is it?
"We found it, Excellency." A tech nearby said. Relief flooded into the Fleet Master, filling him again with leadership and will.
"Where is it?" he demanded.
"Inside of the asteroid field Excellency. The entire planet is surrounded by it. The density of the field blocked sensors at first, but it is now visible and confirmed as the planet that the Humans call Damascus."
Fummamee glanced at the sensors and saw for himself the connection, but here was a problem as well. "How do the Humans get through the asteroid field?" He asked. "More importantly, how do we get inside? Don't tell me that no cruisers can enter."
"Of course, Excellency. Their route will be ours. There are several openings in the field all the way around, but most are too small to allow even a single destroyer to enter through, let alone a cruiser. Even a frigate would have to be perfectly aligned in order to pass."
"I would rather not trickle in single file. It would take days just to organize and perfectly align the files. What's our best option?"
"Our only option is to enter through this gap." The tech brought up the image of a large hole in the field. "Three destroyers at a time can enter with out breaking formation, and with the right combination of frigates, destroyers, and cruisers, we can be inside quickly. The problem is that this hole is on the other side of the system. We are going to have to orbit the entire system if we are going to enter there."
Fummamee cursed. More delays. "But the main problem is this." The tech spoke again, bringing the image of a Human station in the center of the hole. "This is a type E-2 Human station, one of their projectile weapons that have been the most effective against our shields. In other battles, it has been proven that no ship, Human or Covenant, has survived even a single projectile fired from one of these stations."
For the second time, a chill entered Fummamee's spine. Of course he knew about the stations. Which was why he grew uncertain. He could not linger here. But if they entered, they would surely lose several ships, maybe even cruisers. This was a very unfortunate turn of events. The defense was far too perfect, probably the best defense possible. It would be hard to keep casualties to a minimum.
"Start the orbit. Prepare to power down and take a series of precise in-system jumps around the asteroid field." Fummamee ordered. "And continue scanning through the asteroids. Find out what kinds of defenses the Humans have inside of the field at the planet itself. I want five frigates to break off from the main fleet, align themselves to whatever holes they can find, and enter. Order them to regroup once inside the field and then begin to wreak as much havoc as possible. Have them try to draw the station's fire and make it turn to fire in-system. We will organize our main fleet just outside of the station's range."
"Very good Excellency."
***
The command bridge of Duran's Gate, Super MAC station defending Damascus III. Commander Wi Ting had had an easy day. No ships were due to leave, and they only had one inbound destroyer due to arrive in forty minutes, it being the only curfew for the day. Still, he kept his crew working hard. Damascus III was one of the outermost colonies, blessed with a superb defense system. He was in charge of that defense, and he was not about to let it fall to the Covenant on his watch. Most of his boring 10 hours on duty were spent strolling about the station's bridge to keep the crew on their toes and at their consoles. Now he finally exhaled deeply. His day was about to end, one more day with his world still intact.
"Commander Ting Sir!" The shout for attention came from a sensors lieutenant, slight panic in his voice. Ting stiffened tightly and turned to bring him into his vision.
"Yes Lieutenant?"
"There's a fleet of Covenant ships coming out of a slip space stream on the far side of the system!" The entire bridge froze. The Commander's body went cold, his chin dropping to his neck. With a start, he recovered his leadership.
He walked quickly over to the station, talking as he went. "How many?"
"AI counts twenty-five ships Sir!"
The Commander began sweating profusely. "What types?" he asked, leaning over the display.
"One assault carrier flagship Sir! Six cruisers, eight destroyers, and ten frigates!"
Ting now knew that if he paused, they would all die. He walked to the center of the command bridge, shouting orders. "Communications! Contact the Damascus power generator station for Duran's Gate. Tell them to activate the generators immediately and send us power. Also contact the three frigates in-system and tell them we are coming under Covenant attack and to rendezvous with Duran's Gate immediately! Then contact FLEETCOM and tell them our situation. Get as much help here as you can." He then turned back to Sensors. "Lieutenant, is the destroyer due in-bound?"
The tech was sweating, hitting keys with shaking fingers. "Yes Sir, it entered the Damascus system nine minutes ago. Due to arrive in one hour. Oh damn, damn, they'll never make it in time!"
Commander Ting barked sharply at him. "Stow it Lieutenant! They'll make it!" He turned back to Communications. "Contact that destroyer and give them our situation as well. Tell them to set maximum burn and arrive here as soon as possible!"
"Making it happen Sir!"
"That's what I want to hear. Remote Defense, activate the power and unlock safeties on the nuclear mines set in the other openings in the asteroid field. Prepare to detonate if any Covenant ships attempt to enter."
"Yes Sir! Powering up mines and unlocking safeties Sir!"
The Communications station at that point caught his attention again. "Sir! Damascus is activating power generators! Full power should be online in twenty seconds! FLEETCOM is online, they wish to speak with you privately!"
With frustration, the Commander stepped forward to take the call. Couldn't command see what was happening? Millions of lives glassed if they didn't get help? He grabbed the com from the lieutenant roughly, instructing him to continue working on his next objective in his orders.
While watching the view screen, currently showing a command Admiral, he placed the hearing set in his ear, and bringing the com to his lips, he spoke. "Commander Ting, Sir." The deep voice of the Admiral entered his ears.
"Son, from what I hear, you are currently under a large Covenant assault, correct?"
"That is correct, Sir. And I pray that you can give us all the support you have. We have the best defense system for almost any non-military planet, but we cannot hold back this force. As we speak, twenty-five Covenant ships are converging on—"
"I know." The admiral cut him off, then paused for a moment, seemingly rather heated. "Perhaps you didn't get the FLEETCOM message sent to all human ships twenty-six hours ago."
Commander Ting's jaw dropping in disbelief, wondering what all this delay was. "No Sir, we didn't. We are a MAC station, not a ship."
"Yes, but we sent it to anyone who could have heard. Perhaps the asteroid field prevented the message connection."
"Unlikely Sir, we have a communications array set outside of the asteroid field for long-distance messages. Perhaps a Covenant vessel prevented the message deployment."
"It doesn't matter now." The admiral spoke coldly, his tone almost menacing. "Commander, Reach has been glassed." At that time, Ting nearly swooned. He leaned against the wall.
"G-glassed, Sir?" he stuttered weakly, his lower lip trembling.
"Yes, glassed. The MAC stations there were destroyed. The ship yards were blown to debris. The 114 UNSC ships there at the time were slaughtered. The 53 ships that arrived later fought hard with the survivors, but were beat down quickly. Only a handful of ships, no more than four escaped destruction. One cruiser, The Pillar of Autumn, was seen heading out-system at the end of the battle, but no one knows of its fate. It has been designated Missing In Action but most likely destroyed. The other three, all heavily damaged destroyers, jumped to several different points before arriving at Earth to tell the tale. We are now pulling all UNSC ships back to Earth to defend it. I'm sorry to have to tell you this, but you are on your own. Even if we had ships to spare, it would be all over by the time help arrived. We ask that you load as many civilians onboard the ships you have and to make for Earth, initiation of the Cole Protocol necessary, of course."
An overwhelming sense of despair filled Ting, but he attempted to stand straight, set an example for his crew, to keep hope alive.
Communications interrupted at that point, giving information. "Sir, inbound destroyer is making maximum speed, reactors at 120 percent. They'll be here in fourteen minutes Sir."
"Very good Lieutenant." The Commander said, putting a hand on his shoulder for a moment before turning back to the view screen. He spoke to the admiral. "Sir, are you suggesting that we abandon four million people to be glassed while our ships run to our safe little home world?" he said through clenched teeth.
"No Commander, I'm ordering you to man your station, destroy as many Covenant ships as possible, and to tell your ships to take onboard as many people as possible to transport to what is probably the most dangerous place in the universe for a human right now, to help defend a far greater number of lives from a much larger force. I'm sorry Commander, but what we need the most of right now is sacrifice. The only way to save the Human race is to sacrifice lives to fight against this threat. Again, I am truly sorry for this, I don't like it any better. Human lives are not worthless, and the only reason we could ever do this is the reason before us: Earth is at risk, and we have to put the greatest number of lives first. Is that clear to you?"
With an understanding that Ting never thought he would reach, he began to realize what was about to happen and what was at stake. He didn't like it, he hated it, but he had to obey his orders: he had to sacrifice millions of people to save Earth. "It is clear Sir."
"Good. Then listen one more time: you have to keep this from the crew about to fight. Tell them reinforcements are on the way, a massive armada is nearby, anything to keep up their hope. You have to keep them fighting. Are we understood?"
The Commander nodded. "Understood Sir. I will do the best I can."
"Thank you Commander, and good luck. Sacrifice is what is needed now, and you are giving up the most sacrifice. I respect you for that."
"One more thing before we part, Sir. I understand why you have ordered what you have ordered, and I know that it is the right thing. That said, you are a bastard, leaving millions of people to die like this. All the others leading the UNSC are bastards too, and they will all burn in hell for this. Good luck defending Earth. I hope the Grunts rip you apart alive." He ended the transmission abruptly in the admiral's face. What he had just done was something no real soldier did, would dream of doing, but in their current position, death in their faces, it was the only time such a thing would happen.
The Commander marched back to the center of the bridge, addressing the whole crew. "Good news! Reach is sending 70 ships to our aid, along with forty Spartans! They'll be here within ninety-three minutes! Looks like we'll live through this after all! All we have to do is destroy as many Covenant ships as possible in order to delay them long enough for the fleet on spoke to arrive!"
As the crew whooped and cheered, joyfully preparing for battle, the Commander stepped outside of the bridge for a moment and did something he hadn't done since he was ten. With no one watching, he put his face in his hands and cried.
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