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Battle for Sol by RogueFox
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Battle for Sol- Pt. 1
Date: 27 July 2004, 10:04 PM
March 25th, 2553
Sol System
Pluto
Remote Sensing Station York
Ensign Jack Powell sat at the control board and looked at the computer readouts. Three more UNSC destroyers had entered the Sol system on approach to assist in the defense of the Jupiter and Saturn bases. Powell perked up. He saw that 5 of the new battleship-class vessels had arrived and were headed to Earth. The Admiralty reinstated the battleship-class in an effort to stem the Covenant advance towards Sol. The battleship was effective at destroying Covenant frigates, but was only adequate at any other class of Covenant ship. The battleships had 4 MAC guns along their port and starboard sides, enabling them to knock out frigates out with one volley. Any other class of ship, however, required the battleship to roll to its other side and get another firing solution, which took time and allowed the Covenant to reposition their ships and fire. However effective the battleships were, they were like the SPARTAN-IIs on the ground. They were damned effective, but too few in number to turn the tide. Powell shook his head as the C-709 squadron flew past on its patrol of the Pluto. The humans had several ships stationed at each planet, with the heaviest concentration between Mars and Earth. Powell kicked back and prepared for another uneventful shift.
Sol System
Earth
North American Defensive Zone
Battle Station Omega-5
The Operations room of Omega-5 buzzed with activity. The room wrapped around the command seat with view screens and numerous stations. Longswords docked and departed, shuttles flew all around Earth. Ships patrolled their routes through Earth orbit. Admiral Sir Terrance Hood sat in the Command seat as he read Missile Command's report on the availability of AIM-240 missiles for anti-fighter capability and the availability of Archer-IIs for capital ship warfare. The Archer-IIs were missiles as long as a Longsword and in tests, were able to lower a Covenant ship's shields be 10% for every two missile impacts. In theory, 40 Archer-IIs could kill a Covenant frigate. However, each Battle Station carried only 30 Archer-IIs because of their size. The dedicated MISSILECOM platforms carried 60 Archer-IIs and 10 Shiva Nuclear Missiles. The Archer-IIs were far too large to be carried on ships, so they continued to receive normal Archer missiles. "Not enough to make a damned difference." the admiral thought as he looked up at the massive, cylinder shaped Super Magnetic Acceleration Cannon. The 150 UNSC ships in Earth orbit, he other 100 around Earth, and the 30 Super MACs were on constant alert after the Covenant's smashing victory at Reach. No one ever relaxed anymore. The once proud UNSC was smashed to smoldering ruin and ash. Twenty star systems left out of thousands. He wondered what humanity did to anger the Covenant leadership to drive them to invade Earth's interstellar empire. He shook his head. No need in thinking about things that wouldn't matter. The Covenant knew where Sol was. They would kill the rest of the colonies later. All that mattered was killing Earth. Suddenly green motes of light appeared near the European Zone. 5 gleaming new, cylinder-shaped battleships from the Alpha Centauri shipyards appeared. Ops stopped cold to stare at the massive ships, and then went back to its normal, hectic activity. Admiral Hood stared at the battleship New Jersey. Maybe, just maybe, these ships could save Earth's hide for a little longer.
Suddenly, the systems at Ensign Powell's station began to beep with alarm. He checked the readouts. "Damn it." He muttered. He slapped the button that sent the panicked communiqué to Earth and pressed the self destruct button. He watched as 50 Covenant ships materialized before his eyes as his station blew to pieces.
Sol System
Jupiter
Battle Station Bravo-9
Rear Admiral Cody Adams looked up as he saw 100 Covenant ships materialize on the far side of Io. "Son of a bitch." He yelled. The Jovian Super MACs immediately opened up on the new arrivals, as did the Rear Admiral's 100 piece fleet. His own station shuddered as it fired its weapons complement at the Covenant fleet. 20 ships were blown out the formation by the Jovian opening salvo, but the Covenant's opening salvo took out 5 of the 10 Super MACs and 20 of his own ships. Then, in a stroke of luck, 10 Covenant ships miscalculated their Slipspace jumps and were pulled into Jupiter's immense gravitational pull and could not break free. Adams immediately ordered his vessels to perform a Linebacker formation. Cruisers and destroyers pushed forward in a chevron formation, firing all their weapons, followed closely by weaker frigates slightly lower in the formation, which then fired their weapons. This formation cost the Admiral 2 cruisers and 3 destroyers, but cost the enemy 2 carriers, 4 destroyers, and a frigate. Adams sent a communiqué to Earth that the outer planets had come under Covenant attack. Missiles, blinding MAC rounds, scorching plasma, and lasers crisscrossed space, finding targets and destroying them. The Covenant finished off the remaining Super MACs, which managed to get off one more set of projectiles, then turned to the fleet. It was a heated, pitched battle, but Adams was more worried about Earth. If the sent this many after their base in the outer planets, how many would come after Earth? The station fired off its complement of Archer-II missiles and he watched as a Covenant cruiser was blasted into Jupiter's atmosphere. Adams turned to see the door on Ops break open and an Elite with a Power Sword activated roared and leaped at him. Suddenly, Battle Rifle and SMG fire cut into him. Spartan-043 leaped and tacked the Elite, killing him with a Battle Rifle shot to the head. He policed the power sword and brandished it. "Let's dance." Will said. The other Elites stared and fired their plasma rifles. Will used the blade to shield him, which absorbed the plasma. He leapt and slashed, hacking one Elite into pieces. He turned two the other two Elites, who roared and charged. He ran towards them, and spun. 4 pieces of Elite flesh fell to the deck. Suddenly a large group of Grunts and Jackals ran in and aimed at Will. He turned, but then Spartan-104 leapt in, wielding two SMGs, and sprayed the whole group. Grunts screamed and fell, but the Jackals stood fast and prepared to engage the two Spartans. Suddenly, Sergeant A.J. Johnson and a Marine detail ran in behind the Jackals and hosed them down. "A little help, courtesy of the Marine Corps!" The sergeant flashed a grin, and turned to the Real Admiral, who was still a little shocked. "Well, I suggest you get to some pods and break for Earth...looks like we're going to be defeated here." No sooner than the Admiral stopped speaking, Fred pointed and said "Maybe not Admiral." 50 ships roared into the picture on the center viewscreen and spat hot white metal slugs. "The Saturn forces! Thank God they intercepted Pluto's transmission." 50 UNSC ships roared in and the battle was joined. The Rear Admiral turned. "We have plenty of ODSTs and Marines on board...go to Earth. All of you. They need you more than we do." The Two Spartans, Sgt. Johnson, and the 5 Marine Orbital Drop Shock Troopers with him nodded and ran to a Longsword. "Welcome aboard gentlemen, make yourselves as comfortable as you can in a single-seat fighter. ETA to Earth, 1 hour. Providing no Covenant ships decide to get some target practice." An ODST grunted. "Cheerful fellow." The Marine said. The rest chuckled as the Longsword shot out of the bay on its long journey to Earth.
Sol System
Earth
North American Defensive Zone
Battle Station Omega-5
"Combat Alert Alpha!!!!" Hood yelled. Ops was a flurry of activity as the COM buzzed with frantic messages that the Covenant was attacking. There were 200 ships at Alpha Centauri, 100 at Jupiter, 50 at Pluto, and 150 at Mars. Suddenly hundreds of motes of light appeared in the space around Earth. 300 Covenant ships popped out of Slipspace. Hood glared at the screen as an Elite popped on the station's huge view screen. The Elite snarled. "This planet is the Land of the gods. Your destruction is imminent." Hood looked up and the screen. "Go to hell." The Elite roared and cut the feed off. The two fleets warmed their weapons and charged into the gates of hell.
Battle for Sol- pt. 2
Date: 31 July 2004, 2:22 AM
The first story was sloppy, but it kind of set everything up. I'll try to do better on this one :).
Sol System
Earth
North American Defensive Zone
Battle Station Omega-5
Admiral Hood flew against a bulkhead after Covenant pulse lasers fried the starboard stabilizers. The stabilizers loss caused the center spinning section of the Battle Station to spin faster and threw everyone in Ops against a panel or bulkhead. "ROGUE!!!" Hood yelled. "STOP SPINNING THE CENTER SECTION! NOW!" "Yes, Admiral." The calm AI replied. The admiral slowly floated off the deck. He got against a bulkhead, and with a grunt of effort, pushed himself to his command seat and strapped in with the emergency strap. "Communications, get the Iowa on that Covenant sonuvabitch." The massive UNSC battleship rolled to have its port side facing the Covenant destroyer that shot at them. The ship slid to starboard as the 4 MAC guns fired hot white thunder across the fabric of space. The rounds impacted on the Covenant destroyer amidships all at once, breaking the shields and impaling it. Hood grinned, and then looked at the COM board. "Sir, there's a Longsword from Jupiter requesting permission to dock. They have SPARTAN-IIs onboard." Hood looked at the COM operator. "Get em to the bridge ASAP. Get the Master Chief and that other Spartan up here too." The Lieutenant Commander nodded and began to send out orders. Hood watched as UNSC ships melted and Covenant ships blew apart. The Super MACs fired another salvo. The rounds ripped through 30 Covenant ships. Suddenly, the COM board pinged. The radio crackled. "This is...*zzsst*...Greer...Covenant breached African Zone...nothing I can do...*zsssssssst*" Hood looked at his tactical display, while Rogue concentrated on firing the stations weapons to their greatest effect. He paused and looked over at Hood. "Sir, the African Zone is collapsing." Rogue changed colors and the continent of Africa came on the holo display.The UNSC ships had a hole in their formation, where three Covenant cruisers were inside. "Damn it." Hood muttered. Three UNSC cruisers jetted away from the Asian screen to try and attack them. The Covenant immediately slammed them with plasma and lasers. The cruisers retaliated with their MACs and Archers, killing one Covenant Cruiser and damaging another. The Covenant then proceeded to slag the human cruisers into titanium haze. The 4 SPARTANs and the 5 Marines floated into ops. "Admiral. Master Chief Petty Officer SPARTAN-117 and my squad reporting for duty, sir." Hood thought for a moment, then turned and said "Welcome aboard Spartans. I have a mission for you." He gestured to the massive Covenant cruiser dropping into the atmosphere over Earth. "Destroy whatever that thing puts on the ground." The Chief saluted as best he could in the zero-gee environment, then turned to see the door two Marines frantically float in. "Covenant! On Deck 5!" The Chief pushed off the deck out the door, followed closely by Sergeant Johnson, the ODSTs, and the SPARTANs. Cortana, who was inside the Chief's suit, opened a channel to the Master Chief. "The Covenant are in the weapons locker on Deck 5...Chief, they're setting anti-matter charges! They're going to use the ordinance to.." Suddenly, Battle Station Omega-5's dorsal side blew open, throwing human and Covenant alike into the vaccum. Decompression alarms sounded through all the decks. The Chief turned around. "ODSTs, get your EVA suits ready. Sergeant..." The Sergeant laughed. "Don't worry about me Chief. I'll get the Pelican on this deck. I'll meet you in Bay 5." He floated off. Fred shook his head as he watched the Sergeant go. The ODSTs and Spartans looked at the Chief. "Lets go." The squad opened the emergency airlock and floated through the bulkhead into deck 5. Cortana piped up. "Alert: your know that your weapons will no longer work." "Thanks for the update." Will muttered. "Hmph. See if I tell you anything again." The Master Chief grinned at Will's sarcasm as he floated through the eerily empty deck, looking for the corridor to Bay 5.
Sol System
Jupiter
Battle Station Bravo-9
Rear Admiral Adams wiped the blood from his lip as he got up off the deck. The Covenant had gutted Decks 25 through 28 with a plasma torpedo. The UNSC was down to 30 ships, the Covenant down to 40. Adams staggered back to his command seat. "Lieutenant, status of the fleet?" The Lieutenant looked up as a Covenant frigate shattered under the impact of multiple MAC rounds. "Our fleet is in scattered retreat sir...they cannot hold against superior Covenant numbers." Adams looked at his tactical display. He saw that the MISSILECOM station was still intact. It's my last option. He thought. "Commander McKay, fire the Nova." He ordered. "Attention all UNSC forces! Retreat to Earth! I repeat! Retreat to Earth." He switched COM channels. "Attention crew of Station Bravo-9. Get to your designated emergency evacuation pods and corvettes. The Jupiter planetary area is going to light up in about 10 minutes." The UNSC fleet began to shunt power to their engines and roar off towards Earth. The Covenant moved around, destroying planetary installations and straggler ships. "Admiral, come on." A lieutenant urged. Adams left Ops and made his way to his designated corvette. As the ship roared off towards Earth, he saw Longswords, lifepods, and UNSC capital ships roared away from Jupiter. Just before the MISSILECOM station blew to hell, it launched a large missile which roared to the center of the Covenant formation. Then, all of space went white. A mini sun appeared in the center of the Covenant formation, swallowing all 40 ships. The explosion continued to grow, engulfing Io, one of Jupiter's moons. The explosion interacted with Jupiter's atmosphere. When the explosion finally cleared, Io was burning, but the Covenant ships were gone. "Send a message to Earth." Adams said. "Covenant forces at Jupiter destroyed. All UNSC installations at Jupiter destroyed. Remainder of Jupiter fleet headed to Earth." The Lieutenant working the controls nodded. Adams sat back. He couldn't relax. Not when he knew he had only won a very very small part of a massive, massive battle.
Battle for Sol- Pt. 3
Date: 3 August 2004, 3:15 AM
First of all, a big thanks to all the people who have commented on my stories, and to MC's Cousin, who showed me that nifty little guide. Thanks again.
Sol System
Earth
North American Defensive Zone
Battle Station Omega-9
Admiral Hood was glad that the technicians and service drones were able to repair the starboard stabilizers on the station so he could walk again. The battle, however, was going poorly. The African Zone had a huge hole blown in it, and Covenant dropships were streaming through. He had pulled ships away from the Asian and European zones to try and patch it up. No more dropships were getting through because he had tasked two frigates to ram any bastards that got too close. He looked up to see the Iowa firing the MACs along its starboard side firing a salvo at a Covenant carrier. The carrier shuddered, and then splintered under the power of the super-dense ferric tungsten shells. A Covenant cruiser turned towards the Iowa and prepared to fire.
There was no way Captain Will Danzy of the UNSC destroyer Braveheart II was going to let that Covenant son of a bitch destroy the Iowa. "Helm!" He roared. "Ramming speed!" Helm nodded and pushed the ship's fusion reactors to 100%. "Lieutenant, fire the MAC and all Archer missiles." Twin bolts of lightning and hundreds of missiles sailed across the night. the Braveheart II roared towards the Covenant cruiser, determined to take it down.
What the hell is he doing? Hood wondered. Then he saw what the cruiser was lining up to attack. "You brave son of a bitch." The admiral whispered. He watched on the main viewscreen as the UNSC destroyer's weaponry hit the Covenant shielding and overloaded it. The craft then barrled into the ship, interlocking with it. Then, there was a bright flash, and both ships were gone. He turned to the rest of the fleet action. A UNSC cruiser blasted a Covenant frigate into oblivion with its MAC and Archers, only to be slagged by two Covenant destroyers on its tail. Rogue turned bright red and fired 16 Archer-IIs at the Covenant destroyers. The AI had fired the missiles to coincide with 4 MAC rounds from two other human destroyers. The MAC rounds collided with the ships, making the shields flare. The first 4 Archer-IIs to hit the ships continued to weaken the shields, then break them. The remaining 4 split the hulls wide open with the super high yield explosives. Rogue smiled. "I think they got the point."
Hood looked at his tactical officer, who was monitoring the Anti-Aircraft defense. Hood realized that the AIs usually handled this sort of thing, but the tactical officer had shown great prudence, freeing Rogue's talents to handle anti-ship warfare. "Incoming Seraphs!" He yelled. He tapped the keyboard and let a flurry of self-seeking AIM-240 Anti-Fighter missiles go. The missiles found their marks and exploded, killing some fighters and just downing the shields on others. He then gave the tactical computer control of the 50 mm AutoCannons. The remaining fighters puffed out of existence. The officer wiped the sweat from his brow and continued his vigil.
Battle Station Bravo-9
Deck 5, Section Bravo
The Master Chief looked left and right. It felt good to have gravity back, and didnt leave them totally helpless. However, the hull was still breached in this section, which meant their weapons wouldn't work without any oxygen. They passed though an airlock system and realized that this part of the station was still pressurized. They finally came to the large door marked "Bay 5". The Chief motioned for Fred and Linda to come forward. "Will, take the ODSTs and make sure that hall is secure." Will nodded and took the ODSTs up and down the hall to make sure nothing was there. "Chief, be careful...I'm detecting movement inside the Bay." John noted Cortana's comment and turned to Linda and Fred. "Open the door. Slowly." Fred's acknowledgement light winked on as they pulled the doors back. John stiffened up and readied his weapon. He quickly ran in and took up a position behind a crate of supplies and peeked around. Two Elites and a batch of Grunts. "Spartans, get ready to move up." The Chief said. "I have a better idea. Get out of Bay 5 and shut the door. I'm going to get in contact with Rogue and have him open the door to this bay. The Covenant should get a little surprise." Cortana said. The Master Chief motioned for everyone to get in the hall. The Spartans and ODSTs hunkered down and did something John did not like to do. Wait.
Rogue got Cortana's message and ran it by Admiral Hood. "Go ahead, Rogue, get rid of those Covenant bastards." He said as the station shook from a pulse laser hit.
The scarlet-armored Elite looked around the human bay. They had to find the way to the fusion reactors to destroy the human command station. Suddenly, he heard a clanking sound. He turned to see the massive bay door begin to move. He managed to grunt one last time before his body exploded from the lack of pressure around him.
The Master Chief heard short screams that were cut short. They moved down the hall to the emergency airlock into Bay 5. They moved through to see a waiting Pelican on the bay floor. The two pilots were in the cockpit, with a grinning, cigar-chewing black man in the front. "I'll be damned." Will muttered. The Master Chief and the ODSTs climbed into the back of the Pelican, the rear bay shut and repressurized, and Sergeant Johnson stepped though. "Welcome aboard." he said. "Our destination today is the African Congo. That's where the bastards are." The Master Chief nodded. "Let's go to work."
Battle for Sol- pt. 4
Date: 10 August 2004, 6:09 PM
Sol System
Earth
In Pelican Bravo-23,
descending to African Congo
The Master Chief stared out the back of the Pelican as they raced over the jungles of the Congo. The Sergeant had told Fred, Linda, and Will that they would jump out too support the UNSC 501st Airborne Division in their defense of the Fusion Generators for the Orbital Guns. The Master Chief and the ODSTs would continue on to New Mombasa to assist in the defense of that city with the 405th. The Master Chief looked over his shoulders. The ODSTs checked their rifles and their other gear. Will looked over the Plasma Blade he found on the station at Jupiter. He ignited it and made patterns in the air. Fred checked his Battle Rifle, loading a fresh clip into the reciever. Linda played with her SRS99C-S2AM Sniper Rifle, switching scopes. She found one that pleased her tastes, and put the other ones in a pouch on her waist. Sergeant Johnson stuck his head through the door.
"Allright Marines, 501st is havin a hard time. Get set for drop in 5 minutes."
Fred, Linda, and Will stood up. They moved to the rear of the craft and crouched. The Master Chief opened a COM to his Spartans.
"Allright...you know the mission. I'll see you in New Mombasa when we drive the Covenant from it."
Linda looked back at John. "Be careful." she said.
The Master Chief nodded. "I always am."
The Pelican hit the open LZ. A Marine corporal and two privates waited for them. The three Spartans jumped out of the craft. "Sir, the CP is over here." The Corporal gestured to another open area about a mile south of the LZ. The Fusion Generators towered over the jungle a mile beyond the command post.
"Where's the battle line, Corporal?" Fred asked.
"Come on, I'll show you." The Marine said.
The squad ran away from the Fusion Generator towards flashes of chemical-based explosives and plasma blasts.
Will heard rustling in the dense foliage to their right. He let Fred know over the COM to watch the right side and that he was going to check it out. Fred gave him permission, so Will moved into the foliage. He heard the barking and yapping of Grunts. He decided to save his ammo for when he needed it and reached for his blade.
No sooner than Will moved off, ten Grunts jumped out of the brush, barking and began to fire their Plasma weapons at the Marines. Fred and the Spartans knelt and opened fire, taking some of them down, but more emerged from the brush. The squad was going to be overrun with the little bastards, but then he saw the flash of a plasma blade igniting. Will., he thought.
Will took his ignited Plasma Blade and charged the Grunts from the rear. He cut through their armor like a knife through butter, sweeping the blade horizontally. They squealed and tried to run, but the squad's automatic fire cut them down.
"Good job, Will." Fred said as he reloaded. "Keep moving, Corporal." The Corporal stared at Will's ignited Plasma Blade, then nodded and kept going. They moved out onto a line where Marines lay behind emplacements and dug-in Scorpion Tanks. Warthogs raced wounded out from the line back to the Medical Post. A Lieutenant waved them over.
The Spartans and Marines saluted. "Greetings, Spartans." he said. "I'm Lieutenant Griffin. We're holding the line at the moment, but those Covenant are massing on the other side of the line. I got a report of some Grunts that broke through on the right flank.
"We took care of them." Fred said.
"I see." Griffin smiled. "Glad to have you along. I think you three would be most effective in a squad. I need you most on my right flank. Think you can handle it?"
Fred saluted. "We can handle it, sir!"
The Lieutenant nodded. "Good, take that Warthog. Get over there."
The Spartans hopped in, Fred driving, Will taking gunner, and Linda catching the passenger side, and sped off towards the right side of the UNSC line.
Sol System
Earth
North American Defensive Zone
Battle Station Omega-9
Admiral Hood checked the tactical display. The humans were losing control of the African Zone. A Marine General's voice crackled over the COM.
"Admiral, you cant let them maintain orbit."
"I'm trying, General, but I can't let them get our MACs." Admiral Hood shook his head. Suddenly, the COM board pinged. A Rear Admiral appeared on screen.
"Admiral Hood." Adams said.
Hood snapped his head around and stared at the screen. "Adams! What the hell are you doing here?"
"I managed to get away from Jupiter before the Nova went off. Where do you need my ships?"
"Rogue, get those ships into the African Zone to reinforce it." Hood ordered.
The ships of the Outer Planet defensive forces moved to the African Zone to turn the tide of the battle...
Battle for Sol- pt. 5
Date: 19 August 2004, 2:18 AM
Sol System
Earth
North American Defensive Zone
Battle Station Omega-9
Admiral Hood gripped the command chair as a pulse laser rattled the station. The fact that the station hadn't been blown to pieces yet was a testament to the engineers who built it. The UNSC fleet was down to 40 ships, the Covenant down to 36. The four battleships were the main reason the Super MAC platforms weren't titanium haze, as they blasted any Covenant ship that got within range. Hood stroked his chin. Something about this fight wasn't right. The Covenant were losing too easily. This being the final battle against humanity, more of their forces would have assaulted the human homeworld. Shouldn't they? Something about this fight wasn't going right. He cleared his head and focused on the battle at hand. He couldn't lose his focus now. The UNSC Battleship Iowa and the cruiser North Dakota bore down on a pack of Covenant frigates. The cruiser rammed one of them, and sent it spiraling off into another ship. The battleship fired a salvo into the cluster, sending two more burning to the abyss. The two ships that collided exploded in a brilliant explosion from the two ships' fusion reactors overloading. The Iowa escaped, but the North Dakota was engulfed in the fire. Hood hung his head. His son was the captain of the North Dakota. The Admiral fought back tears as he barked more orders to continue the defense of Earth.
Sol System's edge
Near Oort Cloud
The 500 ship-strong Covenant second-wave prepared to jump in-system to Earth to finish the job of the first wave. The ships were about to jump when a fleet of 100 ships dropped out of the Slipstream. They weren't UNSC or Covenant. They were white, sleek, and eloganted at the tail. Their front sections were saucer shaped, and the stern section split into two tails, bearing the engines. The saucer section had numerous grooves and dimples, some of them containing dish-like objects. The stern section had a single symbol, which all the ships had in the same place. The mark looked exactly like some of the ones found on the ringworld, Halo. The new ships paused for a moment, then manuvered around the Covenant fleet. The Covenant Fleet Master hailed one of the new arrivals, and was shocked at what he saw.
The Second Wave of the Covenant Navy never made it to Earth.
Sol System
Earth
New Mombasa
Highway A-16, Section Echo-4
The Chief leapt forward, throwing his plasma grenade on the Elite in front of him. He scampered about, then exploded in a brilliant blue flash, taking two of his compatriots with him in the process. The remaining 5 Elites snarled and leapt at him. He backed away to the edge of the highway and looked over his shoulder. He saw his opportunity. He turned and jumped over the edge of the highway as the Elites slashed at him. He landed on the passing monorail train, and crouched to get his bearings. The pods of Elites were everywhere, he was sure of that. The best hope was to evacuate all the Marines from New Mombasa, and then nuke the city to eliminate all the Covenant forces there. He decided to take his plan to the Marine commanders in the city. He stuck his head over the side of the train to look in the window and immediately jerked his head back up to the top of the train. The car was filled with Grunts and Jackals, and they were all curious as to what the "whump" sound was a few seconds ago. The Master Chief looked around to see what his options were. He was running out of time pretty quickly, because the train was about to go underground via a tunnel, and he didn't have enough space to fit. He turned to his left and saw a passing Ghost, with a careless Grunt driving it.
Here goes...The Chief thought. He leapt from the train onto the Ghost, grabbing hold of the left control stick and putting his left foot on the left fin of the craft. The Grunt turned and squealed, but the Spartan's fist cut him off, sending the creature tumbling out of the craft and splattering on the pavement. The Chief got in the seat and turned the Ghost towards Marine HQ. He sped off, hoping to get there in time to same some soldiers.
Sol System
Earth
African Congo
Fred raised his Battle Rifle and fired three rounds into the Jackal fleeing before him. The alien screamed and fell into a mud puddle. Will, a little farther down the line, fired his SMG at a group of Grunts. The Spartan's well-placed shots sent blue blood spattering all over the neighboring trees. Fred turned to see a golden Elite leading the battle. He raised his rifle to take a shot at extreme range, but a sniper rifle's distinctive "crack" sound rang out and the creature fell. Fred turned and saw Linda crouching in a tree, looking for another target to kill. The human line was holding, but Fred wondered how long it would take for the Covenant to call in artillery. Not long after he thought about the artillery, the Wraith Tanks burst through the foliage and began to fire. The Marine line held, but was sustaining casualties at an unacceptable rate. Fred looked left and right and saw a dead corporal with a radio in his hand. Fred grabbed the radio and spoke into the reciever. "This is Senior Petty Officer SPARTAN-104 requesting air support at Coordinates Alpha Bravo 265, by 164 over." The COM clicked on. "SPARTAN, this is Captain Rogers. Your air support is a minute out." Fred hunkered down and waited as explosions shook the ground all around him. Exactly 60 seconds later, a Longsword interceptor lumbered over the Covenant position and let a cluster of ordinance go. The Wraith tanks exploded and hundreds of Covenant screamed from the heavy airstrike. Fred slapped a new clip into his rifle and prepared to order the right flank forward to attack the weakened enemy.
Battle for Sol- pt. 6
Date: 27 August 2004, 2:59 AM
Sol System's Edge
Oort Cloud
The Covenant fleet master saw a robed human standing before him. The human looked at the Elite with a glint of anger in his eye. "You have attacked the outposts of the Sol System repeatedly for no reason. You have stolen our technology and put it on your own vessels. You have beaten our brothers back to their homeworld, and now, we come to the aid of our brothers. Surrender, or be totally destroyed." The robed figure said.
The Elite gulped. He knew that Ship Masters had spoke of powerful ships like these, saying they were so powerful that no fleet could stop a determined force of them. They had even gone so far as to say they were the ships of the Forerunner. Prophets and high-ranking Elites alike had discarded the notion, saying it was blasphemous and that it was a ridiculous notion to begin with. But now that he stared these Forerunner ships in the face, wondering if his fleet could fight them and the humans on Earth off.
The human leader hailed again.
"Your time is up, Fleet Master." the robed figure said. His ship's consoles had both human English and Forerunner symbols on the displays. His robe was silver and red, denoting a command figure. The other people on the bridge had robes with gold and silver; blue and silver; and green and silver; denoting the aspects of the ship they operated. The human glared. "We grow tired of your insolence and ignorant silence. Answer. Will you fight or lay down your arms as wise men?"
The Elite's eyes blazed with hatred and said nothing.
The red robed human turned around. "Admiral?" a younger red robed man asked. "Should we order the fleet to engage?" The senior human sighed. "Engage. Order the Legions to prepare for boarding actions." The junior human nodded, and began to give the necessary orders.
The United Factions ships manuvered and turned. The dishes on the ships shot orange beams across space. These weapons were a simple laser, but ran through multiple linear accelerators and amplifiers to rectify the energy into an orange beam that could cut through Covenant shielding like it was paper. The United Factions had also developed a green beam, that grabbed a ship, and after it grabbed it, began to cut through the hull. The last main weapon in their aresenal was the proton torpedo. It was a torpedo filled with positevly charged plutonium that glowed bright blue. This torpedo would punch through pretty much anything it hit.
The UF ships opened up on the Covenant fleet. The opening laser salvo cut the the Covenant force by one-fourth. The orange beams parted the shields of the Covenant craft and holed through them. The UF forces made sure their lasers drilled right through the fusion reactors of the ships, causing them to explode. The Proton torpedoes clamied another 1/4 of the Covenant ships, leaving the remaining half to return fire.
The Covenant Fleet Master, being stunned beyond belief at having lost half his fleet in a matter of moments, ordered his fleet to fire back. The plasma torpedoes and pulse lasers of the Covenant hit the brilliant silver shielding of the United Factions craft.
They all remained, unharmed.
The cutting beams of the UF ships grappled another quarter of the Covenant craft and cut huge chunks out of them, putting those ships out of the fight. As the ships floated useless among the stars, the boxy little landing craft the UF's Legions used docked with the remaining quarter of the Covenant fleet.
The boxy crafts met a hail of plasma fire as the landed in the bays of the Covenant ships. A Grunt warbled over the din as the Legions poured out of the ship. "They are like the Armored Ghosts we saw on Reach! Run!!!" The SPARTAN-like legionnaires shouldered their laser rifles and cut down the fleeing Covenant, who were thrown into disarray from a lack of leadership and panic at seeing so many armored humans. The Elites stood their ground, but were quickly routed in the advance of the UF Legions. The red-orange beams that the weapons of the legionnaires fired either transferred into the target, killing it from shock, or vaporized it. When the Elites began to realize their shielding could not protect them from this precise and powerful weapon, they too began to run.
"Centurion!!" a soldier yelled. "The Fleet Master is on this ship!"
The scarlet-armored centurion of the Thirty-Third Legion looked at the map the soldier had discovered.
"So he is." The centurion said. "Find him, and bring him to me."
The legionnaires charged through the ship, killing all Covenant in their way, only suffering three casualties, only one resulting in death. They burst onto the bridge, capturing the still-shocked Fleet Master.
"Centurion, he's ours."
Sol System
Earth
North American Defensive Zone
Battle Station Omega-9
The center of Ops burst into cheers. Rogue had just confirmed that the Sol system had repelled all Covenant intrusions. Suddenly, a white, elongated ship dropped out of the Slipstream and moved with blazing speed to the station. Hood was wary of the new arrival, but was in no position to be hostile. The COM board pinged.
Hood accepted the transmission, and nearly fell out of his chair when he saw what flashed onto the screen.
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