Two Meters Of Armor
Posted By: OpeningAct<OA@aol.com>
Date: 16 June 2004, 11:11 AM
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Two Meters Of Armor
0347 Hours, December 4, 2552 (Military Calendar) /
UNSC Cruiser Leviathan, Draco System.
The Covenant have found the location of Earth, according to Spartan-117. Admiral Whitcomb and Lieutenant Haverson destroyed the first Covenant assault, heroically giving their lives. The Covenant's second assault has begun massing in the Draco system, the home of Draco III, which was glassed by the Covenant. Admiral Stanforth has given up his position on the Leviathan, taking a seat at HighCom. A weathered Captain, James Stephanov has taken the helm of the grand Leviathan, and has led a small 'fleet' of eleven ships to the Draco System. Their mission : To buy the warriors of Earth as much time as they can to reinforce their defences.
Captain James Stephanov stood calmly at the helm of the grand cruiser, the Leviathan. The Cruiser had seen about forty years of action, one of the reasons it had been chosen for this mission. Still it was very formidable. It's defences consisted of, two MAC's, twelve Archer missile pods and three Shiva nukes. It also had been recently fitted with four small plasma turrets that were perfect for mopping up Covenant fighters.
The Leviathan floated through slipspace, getting ever closer to the Covenant fleet. There was minimum crew on the Cruiser, to avoid to many casualties. They were all volunteers. Forty men and women giving their lives up, per ship, for the greater good. And still not a single glum face.
"Ensign Smith, what's our ETA?" asked Stephanov. July Smith turned her head, a wide smile played across her mouth.
"Thirty-two minutes, sir!" she exclaimed.
"Good. Lieutenant Horne, are both MAC's charged up?" questioned the Captain.
"Yes, sir! Both MAC's at 100% charge" announced Horne.
"Alright people, I have something to say. No one ordered you to partake in this mission, you volunteered. By accomplishing this mission, we may well save billions of lives, we may not. But you tagged along anyway. No matter how many Covenant ships we encounter when we return to normal space, we have to stay strong. Maybe we'll take a few of them to hell with us. That's all I ask. You will all be remembered as heroes. So let's do it!" growled Stephanov.
"Yes, sir!" chorused the crew, while saluting. The Captain returned the salute and smiled. They were the bravest souls he had ever met and he was honoured to be working alongside with them. To the end.
The small human fleet blasted out of slipspace and into the Draco System.
"We need to stay hidden for as long as possible. Head for that asteroid field and we'll regroup there" announced Captain James Stephanov. The fleet danced through the space as the system's star, Sirius shined a upon them. The ships darted in and out of each other in formation, preparing for their last stand. From the bridge of the Leviathan Stephanov could see the Covenant fleet, the purple and dark pink alloy reflecting sunlight at them. He could only hope they hadn't spotted the Leviathan. There were less than he had expected. He stared at Ensign Smith's monitor. It showed twenty-nine red blips. There had to be more coming.
The human fleet soared into the asteroid field, slowing their velocity to avoid the many asteroids. They hid behind every shadow, momentarily appearing to jump to the next one.
"Sir, Covenant seraphs inbound!" yelled Ensign Smith. True to her word, hundreds of the small, but dangerous fighters emerged in the asteroid field, engaging the fleet.
"Longsword delta squadron, engage enemy. Ensign, get those plasma turrets firing!" growled the Captain.
"Yes, sir!" shouted Smith. Fifty longswords flew out of the Leviathan's multiple hangars. Round after round of light plasma fired at the oncoming fighters from the Leviathan's plasma turrets. A wave of red hot plasma met it's target and about twenty seraphs burst into flame. Stephanov's face appeared on the monitor's of the all the bridge's of the fleet. His voice resounded around their ships, with utter calmness.
"Forget about the small fries. I have a plan. But I'm afraid we're gonna need a mouse to tempt the cat". Commander Santini of the UNSC frigate, the Alliance, appeared on the monitor's of the Leviathan.
"Say hello to your mouse!" exclaimed Santini.
"Make sure you lead them back to the asteroid field" announced Captain Stephanov.
"Yes, sir! We'll do our best" replied Santini with enthusiasm. The Alliance exited the asteroid field and accelerated towards the Covenant fleet.
"Orders captain?" asked Lieutenant Horne. Stephanov took his gaze off the Alliance and turned to face Horne.
"Yes, right. Drop a Shiva-class nuke in the asteroid field....here" the Captain said pointing at a pair of coordinates on the star chart. Horne paused for a second before replying.
"Yes, sir!". He typed a series of commands into his system, before sitting back, satisfied. A Shiva-nuke propelled out of the Leviathan to it's designated destination.
"Good job, lieutenant" exclaimed Stephanov, as he returned his gaze to the Alliance. It was engaging the Covenant fleet.
"Take evasive action!" bellowed Commander Jaque Santini. The Alliance twirled to starboard narrowly avoiding a oncoming plasma torpedo.
"Come about!" he yelled. The frigate performed a 180 degree turn and fired it's thrusters.
"We're heading back to the asteroid field now. I hope what you've got cooked up is good" said Santini with a grim look on his face.
"Don't worry about that. Alright people, back out of the asteroid field and charge your MAC's" announced Captain Stephanov. The Leviathan received ten different acknowledgements as they backed away from the Covenant fleet and the asteroid field.
"Sir we've got a problem. The Alliance and the Covenant fleet will arrive at the same time!" exclaimed Ensign Smith.
"We all signed up for this suicide mission. We all came here to die for a cause. The men and women of the Alliance are going to die for a cause" said Stephanov sadly. The Leviathan and the rest of the fleet, apart from the Alliance, backed out of the asteroid field as the Covenant fleet entered it.
"Detonate the nuke!" yelled Stephanov. The nuke blew in the middle of the asteroid field in a blinding flash of light. Asteroids flew everywhere, clashing with their fellow meteors and the Covenant fleet. They were barraged by the asteroids, downing their shields and finally hitting their hulls. The fleet were decimated along with the Alliance. Two Covenant ships survived, only to be hit by a wave of MAC projectiles. The Captains and Commanders of the Leviathan's fellow ships congratulated Captain Stephanov before Ensign Smith interrupted.
"Sir, forty-five Covenant cruisers on the edge of the system!".
"It's our final stand! An offensive assault on the Covenant fleet. We'll take as many as we can to hell with us!" growled Captain Stephanov.
"It sounds good sir! I'm sending the commands to the rest of the fleet" replied Ensign John Bishop, the Leviathan's navigator.
"Lieutenant Horne, are MAC's fully charged?" questioned the captain.
"MAC's at 85% and climbing at 5% a minute!" answered Horne.
"Alright! Let's go!" yelled Stephanov. The Leviathan blasted into motion and boosted towards the new Covenant fleet. The rest of the human fleet followed. The forty-five Covenant ships turned to face the oncoming human threat.
"Fire first salvo!" bellowed Captain Stephanov. The fleet fired one 'combined' projectile and it soared towards the multiple Covenant ships. The MAC rounds impacted on the shields of the forty-five ships. Some missed but some hit. The Cruisers that were hit lost their shields as they flickered and died.
"Fire second salvo!" shouted Captain Stephanov. A few seconds later, before the second MAC rounds hit, the Covenant fleet fired their plasma torpedo's and they sped towards the UNSC ships. The second MAC projectiles hit the Covenant ships, destroying six f them. As the plasma torpedo's speeded closer to the human fleet, Captain Stephanov closed his eyes. He hoped that their actions would save Earth. Thirty-five Covenant ships had been destroyed in total for only eleven human ships. A good-trade off. Mission accomplished he thought as the plasma torpedo's impacted on the human fleet.
I just wanted to take a break from my To Survive series. Hope you like it!
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