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Series of Fate by LoneRanger 2.5
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Fate Conquers All
Date: 20 September 2005, 2:04 am
0148 Hours, August 30, 2552 {Military Calendar}
UNSC Cruiser Thermopylae, Orbiting Reach
"The Thermopylae will act as the support for the Pillar of Autumn. If Keyes runs into trouble, you save 'em. By any means necessary. Captain O'Dell, do you understand your orders?" Admiral Stanfourth told him.
"Yes, sir."
"Just follow the Autumn. Keyes knows what's going on, mostly." Stanfourth answered. "Dismissed." The Admiral said as he gave O'Dell a crisp salute.
O'Dell returned the salute and walked out of the room toward the bridge.
What did Stanfourth mean by "mostly"? All of a sudden he had a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach. For now all he wanted to do was sleep. But he knew there was no time. Something bad was about to happen. He didn't know what, he just knew.
As O'Dell stepped on to the bridge he looked over his crew. They were hand selected by him. And he made sure he picked the best and bravest.
"Atheius, call Sergeant Michael Jowes up to the bridge. I'm going to give him the specifics on our mission." O'Dell barked.
"Aye, sir." The A.I. responded.
A message appeared on the computer screen as the young ensign leaned backwards in his chair. It read 'SEND THE MESSENGER TO THE LAND OF DOWNED BIRDS'. He knew that it must be important, only information the UNSC didn't the covenant to know about was coded like this. "Sir, could you come over here for a second?"
"What is it Wilson?" Lieutenant Franks replied.
"Take a look for yourself."
The el-tee looked over the screen. Brian could see the train of thought on the Lieutenant's face as he read.
"Tell Sergeant Jowes that he's wanted on the bridge ASAP."
"Yes sir." Brian headed toward the armory where Jowes was resting. Fortunately, the armory wasn't far and he got there within two minutes. When he got there he found the Sergeant already awake. Brian strode toward him and said, "Sergeant, Captain O'Dell wants you on the bridge ASAP."
"Yes sir." Jowes replied. Michael jogged toward the bridge and arrived about ten minutes later. As Jowes walked onto the bridge he glanced around at the different stations as he passed them. He finally walked up to the captain's seat and spoke, "Ensign Wilson said you wanted to speak with me sir."
O'Dell appeared startled at the sudden appearance of the sergeant. He expected him, but not so soon. He tried to collect himself as he responded, "Ah, yes. It's nice to see you again sergeant. I called you here to brief you on our mission. Athieus, show us the simulations."
The A.I.'s "body" was projected onto the pad as he prepared the holograms up on the projection screen. He wore a commanding look and posture. Wearing a uniform similar to that of an eighteenth century admiral in the British navy. He was a smart A.I. His personality was similar to, but not exactly like, that of who he was copied from. A field commander who led a battalion of soldiers to lay siege to a Covenant held fortress. The siege was only won by use of superior tactics by the UNSC and the confusion and disarray of their troops. Unfortunately, Marcus Almont, who Athieus was copied from, was killed during the final stages of the assault.
As the holograms were coming up O'Dell began the briefing. "Sergeant, we'll be following Captain Keyes' ship, the Pillar of Autumn, through the system towards the Covenant home world. If he runs into trouble, we'll be there to back him up. But we're leaving before him, because he can't know of the plan. The Spartan-IIIs are going to be of use once we get there." A hologram popped onto the viewing screen and a concept of what was believed to be the target shown brightly. O'Dell looked at it and said, "This is our target. Once we reach it, you'll be ordered to prepare your men. That's all you need to know for now. Dismissed."
Both the captain and Jowes saluted. Jowes headed back to the armory for some more rest while O'Dell sat back down. He made sure all hands were on board and ran diagnostic checks. They were ready to make a slipspace jump. All that was in the way now was time, then they would change the direction in which this war was heading. "Take the fight to the Covenant" in a matter of speaking.
Athieus popped up on the round pad by the viewing screen. "Captain, we have received the order to jump at 0230 hours."
That gives me about fifteen minutes until I head off to another planet, another galaxy. He was getting that sick feeling in his stomach again. It even got to the point where he nearly through up. It was as if he could feel his impending doom. But he had to shake the feeling, for he had a ship to command. And the most important mission in military history.
"Athieus, run a few more checks, I want to make sure this ship is fully prepared." Actually, all of these tests were just to pass time. It made him nervous when there was nothing happening. Especially just before such an important mission as this one.
"I already have." Athieus stated without showing either emotion or expression.
"Good." I don't know whether to be proud or afraid of this. Either way, I still find the concept of something that's not real, but acts so alive. This thought veered off the task at hand, he had to stay focused.
Fate Conquers All : A Continued Journey
Date: 24 September 2005, 2:52 am
0256 Hours, September 21, 2552 {Military Calendar}
UNSC Thermopylae, En Route To Covenant Home World
The Thermopylae was holding up exceptionally well under the circumstances. Everyone aboard was in shock due to the sudden appearance of a Covenant warship. Those things can do some serious damage when you're not prepared. O'Dell found that out the hard way. Unfortunately, they managed to get a few hits on them and nearly destroyed the MAC cannon. But, the Thermopylae recovered and managed to destroy the ship. O'Dell was still in amazement at how they had pulled off the feat that they did. He knew now that he had perfectly picked his crew. No one else but Jacob Keyes' crew could've done it.
But then he realized the downside to the battle. It wasn't even thirty minutes into the flight and they had already come face to face with death. He also wondered how a Covenant ship could've been that close.
I can't help but feel sorry for those living on Sigma Octanus. They must've been glassed. 17 million people, probably gone. I'm going to have to search when I make it back here. If I make back. Maybe there's a chance that… His thoughts were interrupted by the yell of a crewman.
"Sir, there's something showing up on the radar. You better take a look at it."
"I don't see anything." He knew what King was about to say.
"Hold on a second… Right there!"
On the radar a large object could be seen. It only appeared every two or three passes, so it was hard to make out the form of the object. The captain looked out of the large window in front of the navigators. There wasn't anything there. All that was visible was a red colored gas giant and a moon. In the distance another galaxy was visible. But nothing else.
I wonder if there are some human-held stars in there? He wondered.
"Sir, it's still there. It doesn't seem to be closer. In fact, it looks like it's getting farther and farther away. I guess that captain doesn't want to have to go down with the ship."
"Shhh. Listen to that."
"Sorry sir, but I don't here anything."
"Just listen."
It sounded like someone scratching their fingernails on a chalkboard. The rest of the crewmen and those on the ship heard it now too. Some covered their ears while others got down on their knees, formed a pyramid with their hands, and began to pray.
"Everyone, cover your ears!" he ordered.
Lieutenant King ran over and told the captain to come with him. As he was heading to the station, there were some camera stations on. Se looked at them, stared rather, as he saw soldiers take their own lives, others trying to stop them, but all were in utter shock and confusion. It was hard to look at and he knew it was even harder to live through. Feeling sorry for them was an understatement. The bridge wasn't getting nearly as much of the sound as the other parts of the ship. He silently prayed to god for their sanity to stay intact.
It felt like it had been a lifetime from the time it took to reach a station only halfway across the bridge.
"Sir, look at the screen!" On the screen was a message. It wasn't in English. That was obvious.
"What do you think it is?"
"It's not a roach problem, but there is something strange about it." O'Dell said sarcastically.
"What do you mean?"
"Athieus, can you decipher this for us?"
"Of course captain, this is my specialty."
As Athieus said this, the ship was rocked by an explosion. His image flickered and he went off-line. Something, had just "killed" their only source of intelligence. And the trapped Marines in all parts of the ship only hope. There was no form of communication to ONI now. And no way of completing their mission. All they could hope to do was escape space's own Bermuda Triangle. "Prepare a slip space jump." O'Dell ordered to anyone listening.
"Sir, our engine's are out. That explosion must have been EMP or something." the navigator commented.
They were stuck. The ship was drifting now, it was pronounced dead by one crewman. "I pronounce this ship dead as of…" he checked the clock, "o-three-twelve hours." O'Dell ordered he stop and shut up immediately. Morale was already low enough in his words.
All of a sudden he saw a shimmer out of the corner of his eye. Everyone else did to apparently. Because he witnessed all hands on the bridge looking out of the forward screen. The object was ring shaped and blue orbs of light were seen coming from it's surface. Could that of been the cause of all this chaos. One of the beams headed toward the bridge. He ordered them to double-time it to safety. He made sure they were all off and then left himself. Just as he got to the room in front of the bridge he heard an explosion, felt a warm sensation on his back, and fell to the floor unconscious.
One of the navigators noticed that he wasn't with the others and went back looking for him. He came upon him and checked his pulse. He was shocked to learn O'Dell was still alive.
Fate Conquers All : A Ring's Fury
Date: 25 September 2005, 2:03 am
0403 Hours, September 22, 2552 {Military Calendar}
UNSC Cruiser Thermopylae, Inside Ship Cafeteria
When he came to he was disoriented. As he stood up he nearly fell down again. But the same crewman caught him and helped him to his feet.
"Captain, are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine."
He tried to walk forward but his attempts ended without the wanted result. He finally was forced to sit down on a chair. He looked around and found that he was in the ship's cafeteria. "How did I get here?" he asked. He hoped that someone, not caring who, would answer.
"Marcinko did."
The voice came from the other side of the room. O'Dell noticed that it wasn't any of the bridge crew, they were all crowded around him. He told some of the men and women to move so that he could see the one who said it. When he could see who said it he noticed it was Sergeant Jowes. When did he get here? I can't believe how fast those guys are! He shrugged it off and got back to the point.
"It was nothing really." Marcinko pronounced.
"You saved my life. Even if it was, in your words, nothing, I thank you. I'll forever be in debt with you."
"Nah, just until you die."
It wasn't much, but the joke lightened things up a bit. Unfortunately, that ended as they assessed the situation. The ship's occupants had little, if any chance of survival. This was a crucial time, he may've been making the most important decision of his life. Saving more than 300 people.
As he gathered himself, he gave his crew an order. "Use the loudspeakers to tell all occupants to abandon ship and head toward this planet's moon. Be sure to tell 'em to where protective suits. It's only temporary until we can regroup and find a suitable environment. Finally, tell them to bring any weapons and ammo that they can."
"Aye sir."
After the order was given, the bridge crew, O'Dell, and Sgt. Jowes headed toward the life pods. Once they reached them he realized most of them were gone. Unsurprised by this, he checked to see just how many were left.
Only four left. Nice to see some of them followed orders.
He would've been even happier to see all of them gone. This would mean that most everyone followed orders, but it would also mean that he and his bridge crew would have to go that much farther and get a Pelican. He knew though that many had escaped in Londswords or Pelicans.
"Conserve as much room as possible. Fill one up then move to the other one."
He was surprised to see that it only took three pods to take the entire crew. As they were speeding towards the moon he looked over the pilot's shoulder and out of the front window. It was almost as if an entire fleet of ships was headed to battle to destroy an entire planet. Then he saw a Pelican get destroyed by a burst of plasma. A look of shock came over his face. Marcinko was able to say what everyone was thinking.
"Where did that come from?" he exclaimed.
Just then, a Seraph fighter flew past. It's shimmering outer hull was blinding nearly. It had a menacing purple coloration, a favorite among the Covenant. A fire was burning near it's engine port. It had been hit. The pilot's face was visible through it's forward window. The face held an expression of unequaled pride as it discovered how near death it was. For in front of it, a blue energy pulse impacted upon his hull. He had made it to glorious salvation while completing it's Great Journey. The explosion rocked the life pod.
Jowes was thrown from his seat and knocked out when his head crashed into the steel ceiling of his pod. He and Marcinko's life pod had launched before O'Dell's and was closer to the explosion.
The Covenant had discovered their position. Marcinko couldn't help but wonder what was firing those blue pulses. If it was Covenant, than it probably wouldn't have hit that Seraph. But he didn't exclude the possibility of it being Covenant held. They'd destroyed their own before, usually on accident.
O'Dell saw at least four more ships go down. All of a sudden, a dozen, give or take, Covenant ships popped into view. One ship ended up coming out of slip space right on top of about seven Longswords. It turned, showing it's port side, and fired plasma torpedoes toward those that were left. O'Dell saw one going toward his pod. He then witnessed a Pelican fly in front of the pod and be disintegrated. They had sacrificed their lives for that of their shipmates. Their death would not be in vein, he was to make sure of that.
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