I know this is the same story as the first "Attack on Sol (Part 2)", but this one is part of the series. Sorry for the inconvenience. -Slit Throat
Ship Master Mato 'Tuknamee watched the battle on an overhead projection screen. The battle above the Infidel's homeworld was going well. Over half of the defending ships had been destroyed with only a fraction of Covenant ships being disabled. His own ship, the cruiser Dark Majesty, had not yet taken damage, but had destroyed several enemy vessels. The only reason the enemy defenses were holding was the awesome power of the orbital gun platforms. 'Tuknamee had seen multiple Covenant ships utterly destroyed by those death dealing instruments.
"Target the nearest orbital gun," commanded 'Tuknamee to his gunnery officer, "they must all be destroyed soon!"
"It shall be done Ship Master," intoned the officer. "Charging plasma cannon..... Ship Master, there is a Human ship approaching us from behind!"
"Destroy them, hurry" shouted 'Tuknamee.
He watched as the cannon belched plasma at the enemy vessel, but was stunned when the plasma splashed across an invisible surface before reaching the ship!
"What happened?!" asked 'Tuknamee, astonished.
"It seems they have shield technology now!" announced an equally surprised gunnery officer.
'Tuknamee watched in horror as the ship turned and fired 3 balls of superheated fire at them. Dark Majesty's shields rippled and failed. One of the rounds got through and 'Tuknamee's last thought was that he should have notified command about this new threat.
John watched impassively as the Covenant ship exploded into a large fireball; he had seen the like many times. He glanced over at the Captain who was nodding his head in satisfaction. John looked back at the view screen. It showed many explosions and flashes of light, all eerily silent in the vacuum.
The battle was not going well for the Fleet. Most of the ships were damaged or destroyed while more than half the Covenant continued to attack. He had a plan to reverse that however, and the Captain had approved it. John and the other 3 Spartans would board separate Covenant ships and attack the enemy by surprise. Once they had destroyed a fair amount of the enemy, the Spartans would exit their ships and land on Earth to help the ground defenses. John figured that if it worked once, it could work again.
"Spartans, get to the loading bays," ordered John. The others nodded and jogged to the elevator.
"Captain Telling, head for that ship," said John indicating the target on the view screen. It was a stationary Covenant destroyer which was firing upon the planet below.
"Aye Chief," acknowledged Telling, "we're going in!"
John stood in the middle of the decompressing loading bay, one of 5 on the ship. With his back to a solid Titanium A pillar, John could just see the nose of his target destroyer. He shifted the Battle Rifle on his shoulder, took a deep breath and leapt into space.
John rotated slowly as the destroyer drew closer. He had to time it just right or he'd bounce of the shield. A plasma turret fired, the shield lowered briefly and John crashed into the ship's hull. He pulled himself along until he found a small maintenance hatch which he forced open. John climbed inside, slid down a short ladder and landed on the deck.
John quickly checked his motion tracker and found it clear. He walked swiftly down deserted passages, rounded a corner and all but ran into 2 jackals guarding a ladder. He brought up the Battle Rifle and killed both with head shots.
"Cortana, can you check where this leads?" requested John.
"This particular ladder runs up to the command deck. Be careful though. There is sure to be more resistance above," warned the A.I.
"Don't worry," assured John " I can handle it."
He climbed the ladder and lifted the hatch at the top. Right in front of him was the hairy form of a Brute! John gave him no time to react. 3 swift shots brought the Brute to its knees and another finished it off. John climbed out of the hole and looked around. There were no more enemies in visual range nor on the motion tracker.
"Which way to the bridge Cortana?" asked John.
"Turn left at the next intersection and then right," answered Cortana confidently.
John followed the instructions and soon found himself outside the bridge. He drew his pistol and activated the door which slid open silently. John found himself face to face with a Gold Elite! The Elite growled a challenge and leapt at him. John sidestepped and slammed the pistol in the back of the Elite's neck. The Elite crumpled to the floor. John stepped over the body into the command center.
A Grunt screamed and tried to run only to be brought down by a head shot. Another Elite, in blue armor, pulled out a plasma rifle and fired at John. The plasma splashed across his shield which only flickered by a hair. John returned fire with his pistol and brought down the Elite with consecutive head shots.
The Spartan climbed the short ramp to the command platform. He scanned the display and found what he was looking for; a slot for an A.I. chip. John inserted Cortana's chip into the slot. After a few seconds, the panel lightened and Cortana's holographic form appeared.
"Ahh," sighed Cortana, "much roomier. Now I suppose you'd like to get underway." The ship gave a slight shudder and a view screen appeared. "There. Now which ship are you going after first?"
"That one," said John, pointing. The ship indicated was a flagship, with deadly long range plasma cannons. "It's heavily guarded but we're in disguise. Charge all plasma cannons and target the nose." The lights suddenly dimmed and a power monitor on the control panel spiked.
"Firing solution ready," announced Cortana.
"Fire!" ordered the Chief.
The space between the ships was filled with large blobs of superheated plasma. The flagship was caught by surprise. Its shields flickered and faded as the large bolts hit, then the hull seemed to catch fire as smaller balls impacted. The flagship spun out of control and smashed into a cruiser. Both ships detonated in a cloud of nuclear gas.
"Nice work Cortana," said the satisfied Spartan, "lets get another one."
"Wait Chief," warned Cortana, "our cover is blown. I'm detecting multiple incoming ships; all destroyers!"
"Target one and fire when ready, then prepare to leave," ordered John.
"Firing."
One of the incoming ships was silhouetted by burning plasma. Its shields flickered and faded, but the hull did not breach! All of the Covenant ships returned fire and the captured destroyer's shields lasted for a second before failing, and the destroyer began to spin slowly as the plasma burned through the hull.
"Time to go Cortana," said a suddenly anxious John. The A.I.'s chip popped out and John grabbed it and inserted it into his armor. He then sprinted for the lifeboat airlock.
The Chief slammed the door open and jumped into the small, cramped pod. He hit what he hoped was the launch button. The lifeboat gave a shudder and John was thrown back in his seat as the pod rocketed away from the doomed ship toward the besieged planet below.
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