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Attack on Sol (Part 18)
Posted By: Slit Throat<halo_boy16@yahoo.com>
Date: 31 August 2004, 8:46 PM
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It felt the slight vibration through the deck as the ship reentered normal space. Displays were suddenly filled with views of the large planet that dominated the system and readings ran across the main screen.
It could not feel excitement, but the presence of a planet full of sentient life sent a wave of adrenaline racing through its body. It quickly sent a signal to the others who responded with the same feeling of pseudo-excitement. The time had come. Their species, nearly extinct, now had a chance for survival.
It gave the necessary command and the others boarded landing craft and prepared to launch. The ship moved steadily in system. Enemy ships moved to engage, but It paid them no heed except to signal some of the others to launch. Some of the landing craft that launched toward the incoming ships were destroyed, but most attached to the enemy hulls and the occupants boarded. These ships stopped firing soon after.
The ship continued on toward the planet, ignoring hits that scored its hull. When the structure of the ship could simply bear no more, It sent one last signal and the remaining landing craft launched toward the planet. Now that Its job was complete, It sent the ship barreling at one of the large enemy ships. The resulting explosion destroyed both vessels, but Its ship had been destroyed too late. Once the others reached the planet's surface, the nearly extinct species would live again.
Ship Master Arlo 'Yulamee paced the elevated command platform on the deck of his supercruiser, The Prophet's Hand. Although his position honorable, it was extremely boring. Arlo would much rather have gone with the fleet that attacked the Human's homeworld.
Nothing exciting ever happened here. He did not believe that the Humans would be stupid enough to attack Sanctum of the Hierarchs, and the only rebellion ever to occur in the Empire had been crushed long ago.
Arlo sighed and continued his pacing. Abruptly, a contact alert blared from one of the probe control panels. The officer overseeing that probe activated the view screen, normal operating procedure. The image resolved but it was not another Covenant ship as 'Yulamee had expected. This ship looked like none he had ever seen.
It had lumps and bulges jutting from the sides, and the hull was an ghostly green color. There were no apparent weapons. The communications officer, after only a short delay due to surprise, sent a transmission to the strange vessel requesting the proper identification codes. There was no answer.
Arlo gave the only order he could. "Destroy them." His gunnery officer nodded and his hands raced across the controls.
The Prophet's Hand's cannons warmed and belched plasma at the vessel which was now defined as an enemy. But as the plasma closed in on it's target, the ship seemed to shift and distort. The gunnery officer tried to compensate, but whatever he did, it had no effect. The plasma sped by the enemy ship causing no harm.
Arlo felt a sudden, unaccustomed feeling. Fear. He immediately contacted the other ships guarding the same sector and requested assistance. Frigates, carriers and other cruisers moved toward the enemy ship and opened fire. Again, the strange shifting phenomenon occurred and the ship dodged the incoming plasma. After this volley, however, small pods were fired at several of the other Covenant ships. They were fast and hard to hit.
The ship nearest The Prophet's Hand, the carrier Swarm of Vengeance, was able to destroy one incoming pod, but two others closed and attached to its hull. A few cycles later, it ceased fire and began to drift.
The rest of the Covenant fleet continued to fire at the main enemy ship. They coordinated their attacks by aiming at every side of the ship so, while it was able to dodge some, others impacted. Those that did scored deep gouges in the hull and the ship began to vent atmosphere and slow down.
Just as the remaining Covenant ships prepared to fire one last time, small explosions appeared from every surface of the ship. More pods. These, however, were fired on a trajectory intersecting the planet below. Even as The Prophet's Hand turned to fire at the swarm of pods, the strange ship made one last move and plowed into the side of the Covenant vessel.
The last thing Arlo saw before a wave of fire engulfed the bridge was a scan on the occupants of one of the pods appear on the view screen. He immediately knew what it was and felt unspeakable terror, but even as he reached for the communications control, the bridge exploded in flame .
The Master Chief stood on the bridge of the Hercules with the rest of his squad as the human fleet reentered normal space just outside of the system. He expected to see a group of Covenant ships immediately bear down on them and was surprised when their sudden appearance garnered no response.
"Cortana," said Admiral Garten, "scan the system for enemy contacts." There was a momentary pause as Cortana used the Hercules' scanning equipment to locate the enemy presence.
"There are a large number of ships present in this system," she reported, "but oddly, most of them seem to be concentrated at a point approximately one light-minute away from us. However, there are still... two of the contacts just disappeared."
To the Chief, it seemed as if everyone on the bridge immediately became more alert. Admiral Hood was the first to break the silence.
"Explain," he ordered.
"There isn't much to explain Admiral," responded Cortana. "All I can say is that two of the contacts are gone. We're not close enough for me to make an in-depth scan, so that's the best I can do." She sounded vaguely disappointed.
The Master Chief chose this moment to speak up. "Sirs, if the Covenant are preoccupied, shouldn't we make our move? They won't know what hit them until it's too late."
Admiral Hood nodded. "Master Chief, get your squad ready for the insertion, and coordinate with Cortana to find the ideal place to plant the bomb. You'll be going in with it."
"Yes sir," shouted the Chief. He turned to his squad. "Go down to the armory and get ready. I'll meet you there." The other Spartans saluted and walked into the elevator. As the door closed, the Chief turned around, expecting some last minute instructions. What he did not anticipate was Colonel Ackerson stepping forward.
"Admiral," he said, addressing Hood, "I request permission to accompany the Spartans on their mission."
Admiral Hood was plainly taken aback by this odd query, as was the Chief for that matter. Ackerson was the main adversary of the SPARTAN program and had done everything in his power, and much that was not, to sabotage it.
Hood seemingly had the same thought. He turned slowly to face Ackerson who was standing next to him. "And why should I let you accompany them?" he asked. "For one thing, you've been against the SPARTAN program ever since it was announced. For another, what good could you do? You're not a pilot, scientist or soldier. You just be another liability in combat!"
Ackerson obviously had been considering this for a while and had his answer prepared. "I plan to stay aboard one of the transport craft and monitor the progress in the ground, and orbital battles. That way, I can assist the ground forces by giving them up to the minute intel and recommend mission modifications. As for the Spartans, I'm willing to work with them to save humanity."
Admiral Hood apparently believed this to be a good argument and rubbed his chin with his thumb and forefinger all the while staring intently at Ackerson.
The Master Chief watched this impassively. While he had nothing personal against the Colonel, he knew what the junior officer had done to try and lift his own projects above those of his rival Catherine Halsey's. Whether the man could be trusted not to let his pride get in the way of what was best for the human race remained to be seen.
Finally, after a long pause, Admiral Hood said, "all right Colonel, your plan makes sense. You will help the Spartans however you can without doing anything presents a problem for the them. Understood?"
"Of course sir," replied Ackerson.
"Very well then," said Hood, turning once again to face the Chief. "Master Chief, you have complete control over the ground operations. Good luck."
"Thank you sir," acknowledged the Chief. He saluted and walked into the elevator. Just before the door closed, however, he saw Ackerson cast a glance at him. The Chief was taken aback. That look was filled with such a victorious malevolence that it very nearly gave him a chill. He began to have a bad feeling about this mission.
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