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Halo 2 Novelization (Part One)
Posted By: Chris Totzauer<topher938@hotmail.com>
Date: 2 June 2005, 9:20 PM
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10.23.52 (Military Calendar)
1705 hrs.
UNSC Orbital Transport 3C-186
In exit vector from UNSC Orbital Defense Platform Cairo in Earth orbit.
Humanity's most powerful weapons in orbit. Over 400 frigates, destroyers, even three dozen Marathon class heavy cruisers.
"So why am I afraid?" Fleet Admiral Richard Harper, UNSC, asked himself. The Cairo was just one of 300 geosynchronous defense platforms making up the Earth Orbital Defense Grid.
Each station was built around an immense Magnetic Accelerator Cannon. Over 30 stories tall, each cannon could propel a 2,000-ton tungsten-rhenium projectile to ultra-hypersonic velocity. The projectile could punch straight through a Covenant capital ship - shields or not.
The orbital transport docked quickly and expertly, the pilot sensing the urgency all around them. He heard the hiss of atmosphere equalizing as the air lock slid away to reveal the cavernous docking bay of the UNSC cruiser Age of Discovery.
The deck was crammed with Longsword fighter-bombers, Pelican dropships, and the Discovery's crew running about preparing for departure. Last but not least, a full contingent of fully battle ready marines ready to meet any threat.
The Discovery's commanding officer, Captain Lawrence Stevenson, was waiting for him. Harper stood ramrod straight and asked "Permission to come aboard, Captain?"
Captain Stevenson, at attention, saluted. "Permission is granted, Sir."
Harper could see the man's exhaustion through the faŤade.
"At ease, Captain. How's the refit coming?" He asked as they left the enormous bay behind.
"Well, sir, we've got full crew and marine contingents. Complete compliments of Archer missile pods, MAC cannons are fully operational, and reactors are at 100%." He paused for a moment, taking a position near a view port down the corridor.
"Sir?" he asked.
Harper turned, looking hard into Stevenson's eyes. "What is it, son?"
Stevenson took a deep, shuddering breath, and let it out. "Sir, I...I don't think I can handle another one." He stammered.
Admiral Harper remembered that this man was one of the few survivors from the battle in the Eridanus system, where Reach had fallen.
He thought of something stirring, or motivational to say, but the words couldn't come to him. How could he attempt to comfort this man, when he himself was experiencing the exact same thing?
"Lawrence, I know." He paused, and glanced out the view port. "Whatever happens today, just understand that this is it. I don't want you to worry about tomorrow, or a week from now. Just keep your men's lives in mind, and your ship on mission." He sighed.
"Maybe this won't mean a damn, but what we're doing here is the right thing. Trust me." He pointed out the view port, at Earth. "See that? That's what we're here for. That blue-green planet is ours. Not theirs. That's what it all comes down to: possession. We have life, they want to take it from us."
Stevenson nodded, and together, they gazed out the view port at the gently spinning planet.
Maybe they'll win, and maybe we'll all die, he thought to himself. Oh, well. At least I'll have a nice view.
1710 hrs.
UNSC Defense Observation Station Everest
1.6 AU outer Plutonian orbit
Sol System
In a way, you could say it was a bit of luck on humanity's part. Observation station Rushmore's slipspace probe launchers were down for maintenance, so Everest station was tasked with a much larger area of space than they were otherwise monitoring. The station commander, zealous in his station's duty, pushed his men to meet the challenge. This actually put more people on the task than if Everest and Rushmore had worked together.
Ensign Jonathan Mitchell didn't know this, nor did he know yet that the double shifts he was being ordered to pull would have a huge impact on history.
Luck played a part today in more than one place. A rogue comet leaving the Oort Cloud made a highly improbable slipspace rupture, tearing the fabric of space in an event still not understood by human science. The radiation caused by the sudden rupture was sent n all directions, including into slipspace, where the altered laws of physics existing in that realm allowed the waves of radiation to travel much faster down the slipspace line.
Ensign Mitchell slumped at his station. 16 hours. What was the point of saving lives if you can't even take some time for yourself to sleep? Oh well, he thought. I go off in a few minutes, he told himself as he watched external camera 3's feed of probe 2 returning from slipspace.
Almost solid titanium-A armor, each probe was sent into slipspace to collect data on objects within that mysterious level of space.
Probe 2 had sent back its reconnaissance data - nothing of any interest again. He sighed. Life in these observation stations was far from exciting. But it was the importance of their mission that constantly hung at the back of his mind.
Behind Everest Station, the combined population of the planetary system they were guarding was over 10 billion. As the center of humanity's fledgling interstellar empire, as well as our homeworld, it more then warranted diligent defensive measures.
With the Covenant War came immensely increased defense measures. A fleet of the UNSC's finest ships, numbering no less than 250, remained on station in system.
Only a week before, the Earth Orbital Defense Grid had been completed. With a series of orbital MAC gun platforms in geosynchronous orbit. The planet Reach, once humanity's strongest colony, as well as military and scientific center, had 20 of them in orbit when a Covenant fleet over 400 strong had attacked the planet. Only an immense landing force with tens of thousands of Covenant troops taking the planetside reactors for the platforms had kept those 20 guns from wrecking the Covenant fleet. Once the guns were down, however, the remaining Covenant ships had made short work of the surviving UNSC vessels around Reach.
Earth now had 300 orbital MAC platforms, with heavily defended reactors planetside. Nothing could get through these defenses with a thought for survival.
Probe 2 had returned to Everest's bay, and probe 4 was entering slipspace to keep vigil.
A red light came on. Probe 4's recce data was coming in. He cross-referenced all the errant debris in the slipspace. Random chunks of stellar dust and debris floated by.
A few more moments, and then another display came to life. Hmm, he wondered. That's a lot of radiation for slipspace. He punched up the coordinates. Pretty far out, still...Hmmm. Wait. He stopped everything, focusing on this problem.
After a moment, he realized what he was looking at. It was a large mass, the size of an immense asteroid at least, but it was the edges of it that drew his attention. They were all too familiar.
He didn't hesitate, as his right hand moved to the panel he had always hoped never to use. He slammed his hand down on the simple button. Immediately, alarm klaxons sounded throughout the station.
Commander Franks, Commanding officer of Everest Station, made it to Mitchell's post in 6 seconds.
"What the hell's going on Ensign?" Franks demanded, his brusque voice tainted with fear.
"Sir, look." Mitchell pointed to the object on his screen, now taking up nearly 2/3rds of the monitor.
After the battles of Sigma Octanus, and Reach, where both attacks had been discovered with slipspace anomalies like this one, a new directive had been created for all UNSC forces:
If such an object is discovered in slipspace, and the edges match the hulls of known Covenant ships, the Cole Protocol had to be activated immediately, and forces alerted at once.
The Cole Protocol, so named for its creator, Admiral Preston Cole, was the UNSC's highest order. "If any UNSC forces come within contact with Covenant forces, all shipboard AI and navigational data had to be purged from ship's memory. In the event that a UNSC ship becomes imminent of capture, the commanding officer must order the self-destruction of the ship. In the event of a UNSC vessel jumping to slipspace, all vectors must be directly away from any human colony. Failure to comply with the protocol is considered an act of treason, punishable by death.
The reason for this protocol was simple - to keep the Covenant from discovering the location of Earth.
Commander Franks understood, and ordered Everest's memory banks purged, and sent all the data and telemetry on the object directly to UNSC High Command in Sydney, Australia.
Within 2 minutes, all UNSC forces within the solar system were alerted of an imminent Covenant assault, and all nearby systems were given orders to send reinforcements immediately.
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