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Halo 2: A New Hope, Part 4, Assault on Earth
Posted By: Sephiroth<jbrandon3@cox.net>
Date: 27 November 2002, 9:34 pm
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0531 Hours
September 29, 2552 (Military Calendar)
Sol System
UNSC Fleet Commander Jonathon Gaines stared at the gaping hole in space and waited for the Covenant to appear. A thought struck him and the irony of the situation formed a bitter smile on his face as he realized that for once, they didn't need to enact the Cole Protocol.
The ship he was sitting in was christened Desperation, a UNSC Super Destroyer. Its immense frame stretched to over four kilometers long. Four meters of titanium-A battleplate shielded the inside of the ship. Along its front it bore ten MAC cannons of the same type given to the Pillar of Autumn, guns that could fire three times with one charge. 60mm chain guns were spread all over the vessel, with the concentration areas of their combined fire in the front, the back, and the bottom of the ship, allowing any Seraph fighters that might harass the Desperation to be blown out of the sky. Three hundred Archer missile pods covered the ship, each armed with twenty plasma-enhanced missiles, each bearing a layer of yellow plasma that covered the entire surface of the missile.
The new technology had also allowed for shields that were powerful, but because of the immense surface area of the Super Destroyer, took sixty seconds to regenerate. A new point defense system had also been put in place. Twenty small turrents on the Desperation's hull could follow any incoming plasma torpedoes' trajectory and fired magnetic chaff bullets, which broke apart the plasma or attracted it enough to alter the torpedoes' path, hopefully enough to miss the ship. In its launch bay it bore four Pelicans, each with 30mm autocannon and one with an extra meter of armor. Also decorating the floor of the hangar were fifteen Longsword Interceptors and two remote operated Longswords bearing Shiva nuclear warheads.
The Desperation was the flagship of the UNSC army, and Gaines felt confident that it would perform very well. Beside it hung a hundred and fifty other ships. Half of them had received shields and the new weapons, the others had not. As such the old armored ones hung near the back.
The weapons that Gaines knew that could make victory possible were the new weapon emplacements. The first were the orbital MAC guns around Earth. There were thirty of them, exactly like the ones that had been used at Reach. They fired three-thousand ton projectiles at tremendous speed, and could reload in five seconds. These guns, however, bore shields. The Covenant would have to hit them with a lot more than they had hit the Reach guns to knock them out.
The second was the Cerberus guns stationed on the moon. Cerberus was the three-headed dog that guarded the underworld from any that might leave or enter unbidden in ancient mythology. The Cerberus guns were aptly named, for they bore three immense barrels, each with five yard diameters. Each fired Lucifer warheads, new nuclear weapons that had recently been created. They were immense nuclear devices, with twice the punch of a Shiva warhead, and contained plasma put under intense pressure. The Cerberus guns could fire three Lucifer warheads at a time, but it took a long time to reload. They needed three minutes to launch another trio of nukes.
Gaines was snapped out of his thoughts by the voice of the smart AI the Desperation had been given, Falstaff. Falstaff was modeled after Dr. Halsey's brain, after the AI known as Cortana was presumed destroyed. He took on the shape of a human male wearing combat armor, with a lithe build and glowing eyes. He was transparent and had lines of code running through him, like Cortana. "Covenant vessels have entered Sol System space," he said. "I count...four hundred and fifty-one."
Gaines felt a part of him die at those words, but outwardly showed no facial expression betraying his feelings. "Tell all the ships of the fleet to select a Covenant craft. Old models with the single shot MAC cannon group in groups of three, and all fire at a single ship, with Archer missiles hitting with the third MAC round. Ships with the new cannon can do it themselves. And for us, I want a targeting solution that has a big ship under each one of our guns, Archer missiles hitting on the third round. I will give the order to fire."
"Yes sir." Falstaff replied.
Gaines punched into the com channel. "..this is suicide!" he heard.
"Suck it up, marines. We have a job to do. If you go into this battle with that attitude, we've already lost. So get yourselves together and fire on my mark."
The Covenant fleet began to accelerate towards Earth. Motes of light collected on their sides.
"Fire!" he yelled. Every ship in the fleet unleashed missiles and MAC rounds. The Cerberus guns went off, and thirty trails of white-hot metal shot forward from the orbital guns. The glow from the alien ships reached peak intensity and boiling plasma missiles and torpedoes surged toward the humans. Space was lit up from so much fire in the air at once. The human's weapons struck first. Comet-like fireballs slammed into thirty ships, their intensity piercing shields instantaneously and cannoning through layer upon layer of metal. Billions of fragments hurled out into space with tremendous force. Oxygen from inside the ship let flames flicker and lick the sides of the craft before the air burnt up. A few rounds struck the engines and orange fireballs lit up space.
Gaines smiled. They would feel that one. MAC rounds from the human ships hit Covenant shield. Shields flickered once, twice, but the third round pierced armor and detonated inside the ship. Most of the ships hit would have survived if not for hundreds of Archer missiles slamming into the holes left by the MACs. Explosions tore out into space and yellow lightning lanced into the Covenant ships. Half-vaporized hulls floated uselessly to the sides.
Before the Cerberus' nukes hit, plasma tore into the ranks of the UNSC fleet. Small turrets tracked the plasma and sprayed chaff bullets at it. About half the plasma dissipated, but two hundred and thirty more plasma missiles found targets. The unshielded ships were all hit. Blue fire tore open rips in the battleplate and sheared holes through the decks and outer armor. What was left of the ships listed to one side, dead in space. Life pods began to shoot out from the destroyed hulls, drifting down to Earth. The shielded ships took the hits in stride, with their shields holding, for now. However, only half the human fleet remained. "How are the shields?" Gaines asked.
"They're at 60% power and slowly recharging," said Lieutenant Miller. The Covenant ships seemed surprised. "That's right, you bastards. Now we have shields too," muttered Gaines.
Right then the Lucifer nukes detonated in the midst of the armada. White fire screamed out from the center of the ships to the edge. The shockwave slammed into the ships on the edge of the fleet. Their shields glowed silver before cooling again. When the smoke cleared, the ships in the center of the armada, almost a third of the Covenant fleet, were nothing more than radioactive scraps of metal.
They hung in the air undecided for a couple moments, but then split off into three groups. The largest squadron moved forward to engage the human ships. Scintillating silver-white beams lanced from three large whitish ships in the Covenant armada, drilling into fifteen different UNSC cruisers. Gaines had seen reports of this weapon from Reach. It was a new weapon, faster and deadlier than plasma. But the beams first had to penetrate their shields. By the time they reached the craft itself, they were drastically less powerful and only cut small holes through half the cruiser's decks. They would be all right if they closed the airlocks around the gap.
"All ships," Gaines spoke in the microphone. "Concentrate your fire on the three beam destroyers. Launch one remote Shiva Longsword and transfer control to the Desperation." He turned off the speaker. "And for us, each MAC cannon should target a destroyer. Arm Archer missile pods C3 through I4. Launch against the destroyers." Hundreds of Seraph fighters launched from Covenant carriers. "All ships including carriers Cascade, Guardian, and Washington, deploy Longsword Interceptors," ordered Gaines. The human fleet slowly scattered and moved towards their targets.
Another group started to ascend vertically and accelerated towards the orbital guns. Motes of light collected along lateral lines on their sides. The orbital guns fired. Streaks of white hot metal streaked toward the Covenant ships, destroyed shields, and sent billions of pieces of shrapnel flying off into space. The ships who survived fired plasma torpedoes. The fiery plasma threaded a path through the broken hulls of their comrades and slammed into the orbital guns' shields. They flared silver but didn't collapse.
The Super MACs launched another salvo and the Covenant vessels followed suit. Human and alien weaponry crossed paths in space. Two dozen more ships became floating junk heaps, but their plasma had launched. The MAC guns' shields couldn't last under the stress and collapsed. More plasma followed, and eight orbital gun platforms were melted into slag. The remaining twenty-two fired again, and the last of the Covenant ships burst apart.
The last group moved forward to assault the Cerberus lunar cannon. Gaines cursed under his breath. "Tell the destroyers Lincoln, Last Chance, and Silas to move and defend Cerberus. Five frigates should go with them," he told Falstaff. The AI nodded and eight ships moved to intercept the alien craft. "How much time until Cerberus launches again?"
Falstaff paused. "A minute and twenty-one seconds."
"Make sure it survives till then."
Gaines turned his attention back to the fight. The Desperation's MAC cannons had killed ten destroyers. Seraphs and Longswords were bursting into flame and lighting up the night with their explosions. He watched the last of his fleets MACs and Archer missiles hit the beam destroyers. Their shields flared silver and then collapsed. Gaping holes were left in their sides, but the ships had not been destroyed and could fire again any second. "Launch our remote Shiva Interceptors," he ordered. Lieutenant Serena nodded and typed furiously at her station. "Transfer control of the three to Falstaff. Falstaff, guide them into the holes in the beam destroyers armor."
"Already on it," he said.
The specks that were the Longswords flew forward in three directions, high above the carnage. Gaines watched as the destroyers fired again. The fifteen cruisers hit before were targeted again, with their shields having the least power. The white beams lanced through the ships from the bow straight through the engines and the cruisers exploded in a hail of fire. The beam destroyers began to flicker silver. Shit, Gaines thought. "Falstaff, are those Interceptors through?" The AI remained silent as the beam destroyer's shields regenerated, and grinned as they flared silver and a white shockwave slammed into the shields' inner surface, incinerating the destroyers.
"Yep," he answered.
Gaines stared at the fight above the Cerberus guns. The Covenant had managed to launch a salvo at Cerberus before his ships made them turn their attention to themselves. Falstaff scanned the shields surrounding the Cerberus installation and reported that they were at half power but climbing steadily. Under the combined power of three destroyers and five frigates, all new, only a Covenant destroyer and a cruiser was left.
The destroyer Silas had taken hits from multiple Covenant torpedoes at once. It's point defense system couldn't take care of them all, and its shields had been shattered. The final plasma torpedo had drilled through its midsection and out the other side. Gobs of molten titanium floated away from Silas, and more than a dozen life pods shot out from the now useless burning hull. They descended into the station on the Moon.
Three of the human frigates had also been destroyed from the firepower of the Covenant. The Lincoln and Last Chance fired their MAC cannons simultaneously at the Covenant destroyer. Its powerful shields flared silver white and collapsed under the strain, and two MAC rounds struck the ship's hull. Three hundred Archer missiles from the frigates chiseled away what remained of the destroyer. A glow along the sides of the Covenant cruiser announced that it was firing. Plasma missiles shot forward and were destroyed by chaff bullets. The Lincoln accelerated and slammed into the cruiser. Its massive frame was three times as big as the cruiser's, and the Covenant ship was knocked away, its shields destroyed and its frame crumpled.
The remaining Covenant vessels turned around and accelerated away from the battle, but not before a last salvo from the Super MACs penetrated their engines and reactors. Thirty more flaming hulls sank into death, claimed by a grinning Reaper. Gaines sagged in his chair and wiped his brow. He turned on the intercom and listened to the men on the surviving ships cheer.
But it didn't feel over. The Covenant had never abandoned a fight when they had ships left. They hadn't at Reach and...they hadn't here. He straightened. "Falstaff, scan the space around Earth, and ignore polar magnetic interference." He waited for the bad news he was certain he would hear.
"More than a thousand dropships are currently entering Earth's atmosphere! Also, three dozen dropships have just touched down on the Moon." the AI touched his hand to his forehead. The remaining human ships rotated 180 degrees and began firing at the dropships, as the Desperation opened fire as well. Hundreds of MAC rounds and Archer missiles streaked into them and detonated, and a couple hundred ships were vaporized under their fury. The orbital gun platforms swiveled inwards and fired at the dropships. Dozens more shattered in the supersonic wake of the Super MAC rounds.
"Get UNSC HQ, all military installations on Earth, and the Cerberus installation! Tell them they're about to have one hell of a party."
0610 Hours
September 29, 2552 (Military Calendar)
Cerberus Lunar Installation, The Moon
James fired a three round burst at the Grunt. The ARP's bullets penetrated its breath mask, hitting its skull and frying the brain with the plasma contained inside the bullets. It fell to the ground. He signaled to the Marines behind him and they followed after him down the corridor. He turned the corner and peered through the small window in the door. Two Hunters, five Elites and ten Jackals. He pointed to Pvt. Wilkes, the demolitions expert on the team he was leading. Wilkes hoisted his Jackhammer launcher and moved forward. "Two rockets, one on each Hunter, soon as I open the door," James whispered. "To the rest of you, use grenades on the Jackals, then concentrate your fire on the Elites. Move fast and stay behind cover. You ready?" They nodded. James opened the door.
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