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Tau Chi II: Ch. 1 - Arrival
Posted By: Myth
Date: 30 December 2008, 7:54 am
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Tau Chi II, Centauri System
Battle Group Cerberus
Aboard: UNSCDF Cerberus
Attached Units:
3rd Battalion, 82nd Marines: ODST 'Hell Hounds'
3rd Battalion, 21st Marines: ODST 'Thunder Down Under'
Attached Wings:
336th Air Group
The torrent of unbidden information flashed across the screen every damned time he logged in. Lieutenant Jeremy Hale had not read the information message since his second day on duty aboard the UNSC Supercarrier Cerberus . The days had worn on into weeks without anything more exciting than a few minor drills to occupy his spare time.
Jeremy Hale was the Tactical Operations Officer of the Cerberus's 'A' crew, and when 'B' was on duty he was the laden with a plethora of menial duties assigned by a superior officer. He preferred to be at his TOO post, to save him from the more mundane tasks, though often found himself wishing for something around here to happen, and would quickly berate himself. Hale was by no means stupid, and he knew that boredom would be quite preferable to the Covenant's presence anywhere nearby.
The Operations Deck was set into the 'Pit' of the upper Command Deck, which served as the CIC, or Combat Information Center, where it shared the area with Intelligence, Flight Ops and Weapons. The lower Command Deck, or the NAV Deck was down a flight of stairs at the fore of the Bridge, and was home to Communications, Navigation and Field Command.
Glass panes surrounded the Pit with displays of multiple reports and information projected upon them. The Pit had four stations built into it, all of them devoted to Tactical Operations. Hale stood up and strode to one of the glass displays, stroking a fingertip across the projection, accessing a new file and closing the old one. The daily directive for ground forces sprung into place. Hale read these information messages thoroughly, no matter his level of interest.
Echo Platoon of the 21st Marines was to deploy to the anti-air battery outside of Chinhae-Taejon by 0400, and Kilo was scheduled to set on and fortify positions in the city center by the same timeframe. Hale checked the time by the clock set into the bulkhead above the display. 2315. It was strange being back in a system with a twenty-four hour rotary schedule after being away from them for so long. Hale had to rely on the clocks more regularly to balance his internal one.
Before he returned to his station he touched the screen to look over the rest of the Battle Group's deployment directives. San Diego was due to put down three platoons outside of Ostri, and Clarity was ferrying troops into Chinhae-Taejon to reinforce the artillery positions.
Hale stretched and sat down behind his station and again dismissed the flash message. The lieutenant quickly tapped into the Barracks COM channel and selected the 21st ODST's CO, Lieutenant Colonel Callahan.
Callahan's grizzled features filled his display a moment later, awaiting instructions. "Colonel, Echo and Kilo need to report to Hammer Wing for a ride planet-side, over."
"Affirm on that, Control. Echo and Kilo are headed dirt-side." Callahan replied and disappeared. Hale dismissed the Colonel's image and accessed the Special Projects folder. 'Special Projects' was dedicated to probable Covenant interests in the system.
The most obvious were the massive structures of alien manufacture on Tau Chi's southern pole. The structures were impenetrable, despite the workings of archaeologists and even a cursory effort from ONI.
The folder sprung up to fill the display. Three platoons from Eighty-Second to deploy to the planet's south pole. Holy shit. Hale thought as he brought up the Hell Hounds' roster, selecting three squads from the Special Operations pool. Major Andrey Kirilenko of the Eighty-Second appeared seconds afterwards, his countenance masked by the silver visor of his MK-IV helmet. The directive wanted him to deploy with his troops. Hale did not envy them, Marine deployments to the poles were horrible positions, radio contact was nil, and air support was nearly impossible to keep in place because of the irregular orbit patterns.
"Major Kirilenko, Alpha, Foxtrot and Juliet are to deploy to sector zero, zero." Hale reported. "And you are to accompany them, sir."
"Acknowledged, Command. 82nd is on it." The ODST officer replied, disappearing from the display.
Well, that was easy enough. He thought to himself, leaning back a little in his chair and placing his hands behind his head. The Pelican pilot escorting the 21st checked in with him a few minutes later, letting him know the Marines were aboard and heading down to Chinhae-Taejon to ready the city for a Covenant strike.
ONI had flashed their Group an emergency warning nearly a month ago regarding a Covenant Battle Group en route to engage, and they had been on high alert ever since. The Marines had the worst of it, Hale mused, for the first time appreciating being shuttled about by the whim of a Field Intel Officer, constantly worrying about the prospect of an alien warrior cooking you alive with white-hot bolts of plasma.
Hale shook the thought away and returned to his duties, toggling his display to the HUD of Hammer 3-9's pilot. The Pelican was soaring through the clouds over the sprawling metropolis that was Chinhae-Taejon. The city had been evacuated some weeks before, and now the surface bristled with anti-air batteries, anti-vehicle artillery and even a set of MAC guns aiming up into the sky.
The Pelican descended, low enough to fly in between the skyscrapers, and finally slowed to dispatch Echo platoon to the deck. Hale watched as the dark-clad Helljumpers scurried away under the D77H-TCI and into the battlements of the city center.
Hale emerged from the future battlefield below and looked around the bridge. Commander Connell was making his rounds, surveying the crew. Connell was the CO of 'A' crew, with Captain Brauer in command of 'B' and during combat operations. The CIC was quiet for the most part. Flight Ops was directing a wing of Sparrowhawks near Ostri, and Intel was chatting with the ONI lieutenant assigned to the deck.
Hale stood up and stepped up and out of the Pit and walked a few yards to the steps descending into the NAV Bridge. Multiple deck officers were pounding away at their keyboards, busy as could be. A large glass display pane dominated the fore of the deck that suddenly flashed red and projected an anomaly near Tau Chi II.
"Commander, we have a slipspace rupture in sector three-one-four." One of the NAV officers called.
Connell appeared nearby almost immediately. "General quarters! Ensign Peterson, get the Captain in here now," Connell said, standing in front of the Captain's Chair. "Lieutenant Cheng, have Clarity and Jester form up with us. Lieutenant Kahoka, arm our ARCHER pods. O'Neil, charge the MACs and give me a targeting solution on the first contact that comes out of that rupture."
The Carrier's four MAC guns began to charge simultaneously, and banks of ARCHER pods armed and emerged from their internal ordnance bays. The frigates Jester and Clarity took up positions on either side of the massive Cerberus and armed their own weapon systems.
Battle Group Isosceles was several thousand kilometers further along the orbital path, falling into formation to engage the enemy. Battle Group Cherokee was doing the same a few thousand behind. The distance might seem staggering for one standing on the surface, but in the vacuum, the three Battle Groups were essentially shoulder-to-shoulder.
Three more Battle Groups were in position outside of the planet's orbit, acting as the vanguard, and another three were on the far side of the planet, riding the orbital path. The strategy was to engage the Covenant with the vanguard Battle Groups, and provide support with the ones behind. When the vanguard had depleted its heavy rounds, they would withdraw into orbit and be sheltered to rearm, while the behind Battle Group moved forward, being replaced by the Groups on the far side moving into place.
The strategy had been developed by Admiral Preston Cole to preserve UNSC ships from the constant beating of battle, bringing fresh forces to the front for the longest amount of time possible. The strategy only worked, however, when you had as massive of a Defense Group as the one protecting Tau Chi. Even now, if they lost too many ships in the opening engagements, they would need every ship at the front, loaded or not.
Cerberus would stay on station for most of the battle, allowing the Fleet four squadrons of Longsword Interceptors, along with a base of operations for the other ships' Longsword contingents to refuel and rearm.
Hale tapped furiously away at his console, accessing a flurry of documents that allowed him to make his own deployments and send information to his fellow tactical officers. Lieutenant Commander Eli Sadie was the commanding officer for TACOPS, and Hale forwarded the deployment schedules for the Marine Contingents aboard directly to him. The Commander would then dispatch squads to vital areas of the ship to repel the possibility of boarders, and send any reserves to reinforce the shorter-handed frigates in the rest of the Battle Group.
"Multiple hull transients within the rupture, unknown classification…I'll know soon…" Lieutenant Arden from NAV reported.
Brauer strode onto the deck, catching the last of his report. "Soon might not be good enough, Lieutenant." The Captain said calmly. Connell withdrew to TACOPS to co-direct troop deployment with Commander Sadie.
"There they are! Okay, I've got the vanguard coming through, six CPV-class cruisers, with a pair of CCSs to back them up." Arden finished, gulping hard at the last of his report. "Probable battle group of CCS and what looks like a Carrier too."
"Okay, Lieutenant O'Neil, Kahoka, when we are in range, open up on the bastards." Brauer ordered crisply, turning to a bank of monitors to assess the Fleet's actions. "Silas, where are you?"
"Here, my Captain." The holograph sprung to life over the pedestal, garbed in elaborate Byzantine armor, complete with a short sword buckled at his waist. "How may I be of service?"
"I want you to manage Group Deployment until I relieve you." Brauer ordered to the AI.
"Of course, Captain. I would be honored." Silas said, saluting with a fist over his heart. The image shimmered and dissolved. A moment later Silas's voice blared through the FLEETCOM channel, deploying each Battle Group to their appropriate positions.
Brauer turned to the central view port of the NAV Bridge, clasping his hands at the small of his back.
"Shit! Another contact coming in at sector three-three-nine." Arden cried, three-three-nine was basically right on top of them. "CCS-class."
"O'Neil!" Brauer barked.
Multiple small contacts streamed from the cruiser towards the surface of Tau Chi, Phantom-class troopships, racing out of range of the Cerberus 's point lasers. The MAC guns flared to life and fired, obliterating the shielding around the cruiser with the first round, leaving the second and third to essentially turn the cruiser inside out.
MAC guns were the only advantage the UNSC had against the Covenant at close range. The kinetic rounds could charge faster than the plasma weapons, and moved faster than the Covenant's torpedoes.
The husk of the CCS sunk into orbit alongside the UNSC defenders and broke apart to burn up in the atmosphere. "Report!" Brauer ordered.
"Single contact…nothing else." Arden said, puzzled.
"What about those Phantoms?" Brauer inquired.
"Dropships trajectory roughly matched our latest deployment to the surface, the South Pole." Arden said. "Wing 2-6 followed them down."
"They sacrificed a cruiser to get troops on the ground fast…whatever it is down there, they think it's important. Tell Major Kirilenko that I want that Covenant battalion under wraps, immediately."
Sadie replied an affirmative and rapidly contacted the ODST officer headed for the pole. Hale watched as the glass projection pane filled with a Pelican troopbay, filled with ODST Spec Ops troopers, clad in white body armor as opposed to their usual black.
"Yes sir, ETA to LZ is still about an hour, we're moving as fast as we can." Kirilenko said into his mic, his voice muffled by the roar of the Pelican's engines.
"Stay safe down there, Marines." Sadie added, terminating the transmission.
"Vanguard groups are engaging the Covenant frontlines, Captain Archam is requesting a Wing Group to support his frigates…" Arden notified Brauer.
"Give him the Wings, and have Clarity form up behind them for fire support." Brauer ordered.
The battle began to unfold before their eyes as the UNSC vanguard units and their Covenant counterparts engaged in the vacuum. Golden flashes of MAC cannon muzzle blasts illuminated space, countered by icy blue plasma lances that bathed it in an eerie light.
One of Archam's frigates, the Shaken, Not Stirred , was gutted by a plasma torpedo from bow to stern, subsequently disappearing in a blinding flash as the engines exploded. Clarity moved in to replace her, firing a MAC salvo into the hull of an advancing CCS.
"What's the charge on our MAC batteries, O'Neil?" Brauer asked.
"Charged and ready, sir."
"Factor four targets and fire, contact Clarity and have her finish off our hits." Brauer dictated.
The MAC rounds thundered out of the four massive barrels, each directed towards separate Covenant capital ships. The two nearest CPVs were locked in combat with the Maximilian , Archam's destroyer. The ships' shields were already damaged from the Max 's own pair of MAC guns. The Cerberus 's kinetic rounds hit each within a minute of each other, ripping through the first's command deck, and the second's engine room. Both cruisers tore themselves apart with a chain of explosions from within.
The third round missed the CCS contact, narrowly missing another CPV cruiser moving in behind it. The fourth round slammed into the nose of a support ship, killing its shields and crumpling its prow.
Clarity banked into position and showered the support ship with ARCHER missiles. The guided munitions shredded the ship's thinner, membranous plating, crippling the craft for a Longsword Wing to finish off.
"MACs are down and charging…it'll be awhile." O'Neil reported, switching his tasks to manage the point defense turrets.
"Covenant frontline group is down for the count, Skipper." Arden said, not looking up from his station. "Battle Group Maximilian if falling back into orbit with Watchtower …Battle Group St. Peter is gone…"
"Alright, bring us into position with Isosceles and Cherokee to engage." Brauer directed. "Take two of our Longsword Wings and reassign them to Max to give them a little extra cushion."
"Sadie, how are our—"
A deafening blast tore through the TAC Bridge, tearing a hole in the forward view port, shattering one of the glass panes above Hale's head. Commander Connell disappeared in a flash along with a pair of ensigns and Lieutenant Kahoka.
Screams pierced the air around him as Hale struggled for breath. Alerts flashed across every display in the Bridge. Atmospheric doors slid down to cover the breach. Atmosphere flooded into the chamber to replace the oxygen levels that had plummeted when the breach opened.
The chamber stabilized and Hale struggled to his feet. Klaxons blared deafeningly, coupled with the sickening cries of the dying.
Brauer's voice cut through the carnage. "What the hell was that?"
Arden coughed violently and struggled up from the deck to answer his commanding officer. "…Covenant stealth corvette, fired a pulse laser through the CIC… Clarity and Jester took her out…"
"Damage report, Connell!" Brauer shouted upstairs.
"Connell's dead, Captain." Hale replied. "So is half the crew up here…"
"Shit. Sadie, are you alive?"
"Aye, sir...barely." Sadie replied, clutching a bleeding forehead.
"How are we doing, Lieutenant Kim?" Brauer asked another Ops officer.
"Minimal damage, sir. It appears the Covenant were willing to sacrifice another ship to take us out. A small blast directly through the Bridge…designed to cripple…" She reported, studying the Covenant's tactics.
"Give me a systems analysis from every station."
"Communications is green."
"TACOPS is hit hard, lost stations two and four."
"Kahoka at Weapons is dead, rest of us are green."
"NAV is green."
"Flight Ops is green." The various Bridge officers reported respectively.
"Alright, get Medical in here to see to the wounded, and pull replacements for the injured and dead from 'B'."
"On it, Captain." An Ops officer answered, leaving the Bridge.
Hale looked down at his display, finding a shard of metal protruding from the center of the screen. He swore and pushed away from the table, moving towards the intact glass pane display, touching the pane with bloodied fingertips, bringing up his login information. He let the computer scan his palm and his display directives sprung up onto the pane.
The communications lines to every team on the ground had been cut when the pulse laser had fried the TACCOM lines in station four. The Marines on the ground would be getting no intelligence from above, and no support if they ran into something heavy.
"Captain Brauer, reports coming in of Covenant stealth ships just hit every command ship in the fleet… Cherokee took a bad hit… Isosceles got the jump on theirs and cooked it before it did them…but we don't know about the other Battle Groups yet…probably not good." Arden reported.
"Hit and run tactics from the Covenant? What the hell is going on?" Brauer asked no one in particular.
"Its like they're in a hurry…they take out the command vessels and then move on to the surface." Arden mused. "Whatever's down there…they don't even want to wait around to deal with us…"
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