Attack on Sol (Part 17)
Posted By: Slit Throat<halo_boy16@yahoo.com>
Date: 23 August 2004, 12:25 AM
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The Chief stepped from the port passenger compartment onto the deck of the shielded cruiser Hercules, Rear Admiral Garten's ship. It was one of the few ships that had taken only light damage.
A squad of Marines were waiting for the group just inside the docking bay door. The leader, a Sergeant walked over to the Chief.
"Master Chief," he said, saluting, "Admiral Garten is waiting for you and you squad." He paused as he saw Admiral Hood exit from the opposite side of the Cormorant.
"Thank you Sergeant," said the Chief, reacquiring the Marine's attention, "we'll be right there." He turned to Admiral Hood. "We're expected sir,"
"Well," said the Admiral, starting forward, lets not keep 'em waiting."
"Aye sir," responded the Chief.
Rear Admiral Louis Garten stood on the bridge of the Hercules. He had not supported the idea of fleeing the Covenant attack, but had accepted it as the best tactical move. With the addition of the new shielded ships and patrols that were late arriving, Garten had been toying with the idea of making an assault on the Covenant fleet in orbit. At least until long range sensors came in contact with the Spartan's ship.
Abruptly, he heard the sound of the elevator door that accessed the bridge open. Garten turned to see four Spartans and two officers emerge from the elevator.
The Spartans immediately saluted and one shouted "officer on the deck" to which Garten gave the customary "at ease." Admiral Hood stepped forward and Garten snapped to attention.
"At ease son," said Hood. "Thanks for letting us aboard."
"My pleasure sir," returned Garten.
"Well," continued Hood, "I have a proposition for you." Garten raised an eyebrow, intrigued. "The Spartans recovered an intact Covenant A.I. which was found to contain the location of the Covenant homeworld. We are going to hit them where it hurts." He signaled to one of the Spartans who stepped forward carrying a small data disk. He inserted it into the holographic display module, with Garten's approval, and touched a button.
The area above the module came to life. A map, showing all of known space flickered into existence. There were two small red arrows displayed on the map however. One was centered over where Earth would be, just about the center of the map.
The other was located, about halfway between the edge of the map and Earth. The Spartan touched the arrow over the Covenant homeworld and the display zoomed in to show dozens of planets, most the size of Earth, revolving around a red gas giant. As the view rotated another planet came into sight. This one was twice as large as Olympus Three, ten times the size of Jupiter!
"That is the Covenant homeworld," said Admiral Hood. "According to the A.I., they call it Sanctum of the Hierarchs. We'll refer to it as Sanctum. The plan is to muster what remains of the Fleet and enter Slipspace."
Garten tried to protest running away, but Hood was not finished. "Our target will be Sanctum. From what we've gathered from the A.I., the Covenant have an impenetrable line of defense surrounding the system. We cannot fight our way in. The goal is to capture a Covenant ship and steal our way in-system. From there, we can hopefully find a weakness in their security measures and send down the Spartans and Marines."
"What can we hope to accomplish by a ground assault?" asked Garten.
"Remember project NOVA?" replied Hood. Garten nodded in sudden understanding. "The ground troops will plant a NOVA bomb as close to the planet's core as possible. They will set the timer and get out of there while our forces keep the Covenant fleet occupied. Once they're back, we exit the system, leaving a few ships to reconnoiter. The rest of the Fleet returns to Earth and, after the remaining Covenant are destroyed, victory!"
"It's a good plan sir," said Garten "one I'd be happy to be a part of. One of the late arriving ships was equipped with a NOVA bomb, so getting one will not be a problem." Hood nodded and turned to the Spartans. The one who had inserted the data chip responded.
"Longsword fighters will be used to transport the bomb," he said. "Pelicans and Cormorants will be used for transporting troops. As for the placement of the bomb, we'll need to get close enough for a scan, but a deep valley or crater should do the job."
"Now, without further ado, Admiral Garten," announced Hood, turning back to him, "would you muster the Fleet. I'd like to get underway. Don't want to give the Covies too long to get comfortable."
In less than a minute, Admiral Garten's orders had gone out to every ship in what remained of the Fleet. With the Hercules in the lead and the rest close behind, the Fleet entered Slipstream bound for Sanctum. Revenge would be dealt out swiftly and completely. It was time for a counterattack.
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