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Nothing to Lose Part 1
Posted By: hornet34<hornet34x@hotmail.com>
Date: 28 August 2003, 5:32 PM
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"Captain, I'm reading a Covenant cruiser on the charts."
"ETA?"
"10 minutes if they engage immediately, but they'll wait for the rest of their ships to form up," came the calm, educated voice of Doc, the ship AI.
"How in the hell did they get here so fast." Captain Simms voice was precise, distintively military, the result of endless years in service to the UNSC.
"Looks like they plotted our exit vector, then sent ships along that course at various intervals to track us."
"Clever bastards. Bring the ship up to combat status alpha, prep the longswords, and prepare the ship for boarding."
Usually that last order was a rarity during ship to ship combat, being that both sides preferred to just blow the other out of space. But the Captain knew that what brought the Covenant after them is what would also make them attempt to board.
Less than an hour ago, the Corrian, along with several other ships, had been ambushed by a superior Covenant force. The Corrian was part of Admiral Tessel's Battle Group, and had been awaiting in system for a rendezvous with a supply convoy. The Covenant had the advantage in the battle from the very beginning, and Captain Simms, seeing that all was lost, volunteered an idea to Admiral Tessel that might save the rest of their small fleet. The Corrian, being a Halycon class ship, was nearly identical to the Pillar of Autumn. While it was known that the Autumn had gone on a blind jump through slipspace, never to be seen again, it was also known that it had carried the Master Chief. Playing on the assumption that the Covenant would believe humans stupid enough to transport such a powerful soldier on such a relatively weak ship twice, he had his communication experts dig up some old, most likely broken codes. Using these outdated codes, the same as broadcasting in the clear, he sent fake messages to the Admiral that suggested the Master Chief was aboard and must be protected. If the Covenant believed this ruse, the Captain had no doubt they would try to capture the Master Chief and all his knowledge of the Halos and the Flood.
So the bulk of the fleet had formed a defensive screen to allow the Corrian to jump into slip-stream. As hoped, the Covenant took the bait, disengaged, and followed them, attempting to capture the Spartan and all his valuable information on the Halos and the Flood. The bulk of the Admiral Tessel's Battlegroup was for the time safe, if you don't count the beating it had already taken. The only drawback to this plan, at least from the Corrian's point of view, is that now it had a superior Covenant fleet hell-bent on revenge after you, and the Spartan you used to lure them after you isn't even on board to help you defend yourself.
"Sir, MAC guns fully charged, Archer missles primed, and the Longsword are ready to launch on your word."
"Two Covenant frigates have joined the cruiser, and two Destroyers on long range scanners. The frigates and the cruiser are positioning for attack!" Jeffrey, a crewman fresh out of training, had trouble controlling his voice in stressful situations.
"I want all guns to focus on the frigate to our left. Its the best chance we got of taking one of them down with us. Get all personal not on station to an escape pod, then inform Seargent Mayer and Sergeant Jackson to booby trap empty access points in case the Covenant try to board through them."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Flight Officer A. J. Ramirez heard the order over the loudspeaker.
"Hey A. J., I guess they haven't had enough, eh" joked Paul Stamper, a cocky veteran.
"Yeh Paul, and we'll sure give it to 'em." came A.J.'s awkward reply. He could barely keep the nervousness out of his voice, he always got jitters before a mission. How did he let himself believe being a fighter pilot could be any better than an ordinary marine. Heck, they got cushy planetary assignments while he was stuck on the frontline of warfare.
"Strap up, it looks like the Fleet boys made another mess that we gotta clean up." Commander Volstek was a longtime fighter pilot, a good trainer, and an alcoholic when he could get to it.
A.J. was going through his preflight checklist when the Commander's voice came through the speaker.
"Ramirez your new wingman is Stamper. Suzuki, your with Coyne, and Barton your with me."
These were the new wingman assignments, quickly thrown together after the losses from the last battle. A. J. didn't really like Paul, but he knew he was a good pilot and hoped that would help his chances of returning, if there was anything to return to.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Listen up men. We're gonna prepare a greating those ugly bastards won't forget. I want mines on those access tubes the second you see an escape pod launch. We ain't just gonna let walk in. Set up your main line of resistance at each end of the hallway. We'll pin 'em in. Target Elites first, and don't hesitate with the grenades. This place could use a new coat of paint, and I think some blue and purple covie blood would look good. Move out,"
Seargent Mayer knew his men would put up a good fight. Hell, he trained them to do so and they always did what he said. He also knew that his men were sacrificing themselves so some lazy crewman could have a chance to escape, but he didn't care, he'd rather go down figthing then get caught running. Besides, in this situation he knew that even those that made it to escape pods were still most likely screwed.
He jogged to his post, directly in the center of the defensive position. Most sergeants loved the sting of battle, but wisely kept themselves out of the most dangerous situations to provide a stable command for the unit. Sergeant Mayer knew that this time it didn't matter were he took up his position, his fate would be the same. Plus, being the very front would inspire his men.
He checked both his shotguns. In a normal circumstance he usually opted for an assualt rifle and a pistol to give him a well-rounded attack, but he knew this fight would be nothing but a close quarters, in-your-face, brawl, and he wanted all the firepower he could get.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Captain, the cruiser and two frigates will be in firing range in two minutes. The Destroyers in six and eight minutes, respectively."
"Sir, I'm detecting Scarabs. It looks like they're launching their fighters."
"Inform all squadron commanders they have permission to launch."
"Sir, the first escape craft have launched, and I show Covenant boarding craft on scanners."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The loudspeaker blared again, "Commander Volstek and all fighter pilots, launch is in 30, take care of those Scarabs and try and scatter those boarding craft."
"You heard the man, lets light the fires and kick the tires."
The clock reached zero and the Longsword squadron shot out of the hanger.
"Alright boys, break by pairs and take those Scarabs out. Don't lose your heads and you wont lose your lives."
A.J. followed Paul as he arced away from the bulk of the squadron towards a group of six Scarabs. He was going for a head-to-head pass, a dangerous manuever. The two groups of fighters closed at a startling speed. A.J. juked back and forth, making it difficult to aim but even more difficult to be targeted. Incoming fire danced all around his and Paul's fighter. A.J. fired a snap-shot and watched it miss. Meanwhile, Paul had lined up on the center Scarab and launched a missile. The pilot was slow in reacting and the missile slammed into the front of his fighter before he could evade.
A.J. kept up as Paul pulled an incredibly tight turn to put him on the remaining Scarab's tail. Three of the Covenant craft looped back to engage while the other two flew straight ahead, an inviting target. Paul and A. J. both launched missiles at the lead Scarabs. Paul's target broke and began evasive maneuvers, but A.J.'s seemed hesitant, and tried to break first left, and then right. The missle was not fooled but this halfhearted attempt and turned the Scarab into a rapidly expanding ball of shrapnel.
Suddenly a nearby explosion rocked A.J.'s fighter. He pulled up, trying to escape the fireball, and felt the force of the turn crush him into his seat. He leveled out, and found himself on the tail of another Scarab . The kill he had just gotten had been his fourth, one more and he was an ace. He anxiously lined up his shot and prepared to fire, but the fighter began a sharp dive. Before he could follow, an alarm warned him that two Scarabs had crept up on his rear. He looked for Paul on his monitor, couldn't find him, both Scarabs were closing. Hemmed in from both sides, A. J. couldn't dodge. He tried to radio for help, but the sudden explosion of his engines stunned him. His fighter tumbled uncontrollably through space for a second before his remaining fuel and missiles detonated.
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