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The Reckoning-Chapter 1-2
Posted By: Miguel<bludawg7@hotmail.com>
Date: 13 February 2005, 11:34 PM
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The Reckoning
Chapter 1: Sidon
Zuka Hamammee was angry. His ship shuddered. Very angry. "Return fire!" he quietly spoke in that dangerous tone he always did when he was angry. Lesser Elite Hara Kunakee jumped to his task.
"Firing plasma torpedoes."
Those infidels, Hamammee thought to himself. He quietly cursed his own superiors for their lack of resolve. And indeed, lack of foresight. How was he to defend this system while outnumbered 12 to 5? All for this insignificant system the Humans called "Sidon". The planet had been glassed, and no other purpose serves him to stay here than to be killed. Another shudder coursed through the ship.
"Honorable one, hull breaches in decks 23 through 25!"
Hamammee examined the monitors before him filled with diagrams of his ship and the ongoing battle around him. His cruiser, the Column Light, the flagship of this Covenant fleet, was being battered apart. Another human ship, a destroyer, appeared in-system and moved towards the battle. Hamammee counted 49 human ships, and 19 Covenant ships. An explosion lit up the display. 18 Covenant ships.
Better to die with honor, than to live in shame. This universal code of honor echoed meaninglessly in his gold-helmeted head. Die with honor? For a non-existent cause? Not while I still breathe, Hamammee decided.
"Honorable One, we have just lost all long range communications, as well as our shipboard AI. Shields are at minimal, and a Human frigate has targeted us and is preparing to fire their main weapon."
Hamammee stood motionless.
"Weapons status?"
"2 of 4 plasma turrets are offline; one is damaged beyond field repair."
Hamammee gathered up what dignity he could and turned to the navigation Elite, Feru Hakanee.
"Set a course out-system and make the necessary calculations for a slip-space jump just outside of human sensor range. I will not have my people die in this meaningless fight."
There was some hesitation. An Elite captain disobeying an order?
"Honorable one, we were told to hold this system no matter what. What you are suggesting..."
"DO IT" Hamammee's voice boomed.
Hakanuu slowly turned and complied. Hamammee decided he would deal with Hakanee later.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Captain Taylor gripped the railing of his station.
"Fire port-side emergency thrusters....NOW!"
The ship jumped, and the Covenant plasma shot past them and dissipated in the remnants of Sidon's atmosphere.
"Charge the MAC gun and target the nearest enemy ship"
"Yes sir."
Taylor examined the battle from the UNSC Frigate Fateless. His thick eyebrows furrowed in concentration and he absent-mindedly stroked his shaved head. The UNSC was winning, but the Covenant weren't going without a fight. They were terribly outnumbered. Their leader must have instilled some tremendous motivation in them, he marveled. Their leader... Captain Taylor re-examined the battle. There. The covenant cruiser sitting ominously in the middle of the enemy formation amidst destroyers and frigates.
"Belay that order ensign."
The young woman paused mid-keystroke, confused.
"Target that covenant cruiser"
Taylor zoomed the main display in on it.
"One heavy round. Target their axis of symmetry, near their midline. I want to make this shot count."
"Yes sir!"
She resumed typing at a more furious pace.
"87 percent charge and charging..."
Taylor stood and took it all in. Admiral Cole obviously wanted this system badly, enough to send nearly half of the standing fleet at Reach in order to do so. Something about showing our resolve. Damned stupid decision, he thought to himself. The Sidonian system had two planets, Tyre and Sidon. Sidon contained massive shipyards, second to Reach's. Tyre supplied raw materials to Sidon, and Sidon produced the warships. But that didn't do them any damn good, did it, Taylor thought. They had glassed the planet while most of the fleet was away, super MAC guns and all. And if the Covenant knew the location of any other heavily populated human planet, they could reduce it to a glowing cinder by the time this fleet around him even knew about it. This was overkill. But then again, Taylor understood the importance to never underestimate the enemy. Especially one bent on the extermination of the human race.
"Ready sir!"
"Take them out."
The bridge lights flickered, and a streak of white flashed from the Fateless' prow towards the covenant cruiser.
"The ship is moving sir." Chris, the nav officer said.
Taylor looked. It was not taking evasive maneuvers however. It looked as if it was moving on an out of system course. Preparing to jump.
"The ship is preparing to jump sir. Orders?"
Captain Taylor contemplated the enemy's reasoning behind this. Could that ship hold something of importance? Or, more importantly, one of the Covenant Prophets?
"Log their slipstream departure heading and set a course."
"...Sir?"
"You heard me ensign."
Taylor turned to the comm officer, Anthony.
"Transfer that slip-stream departure course to the Leviathan along with a brief message to Admiral Cole stating our situation. Recall all remaining Longsword fighters and prepare for a jump."
Maybe this Covenant Cruiser was running with cargo. Or maybe it's captain simply did not want to die. Maybe the coward was running scared.
"Like hell he is" Taylor breathed.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Ready for jump honorable one."
"Very well Feru Hakanee, proceed."
Now, all he had to do was watch this battle unfold, and relay the results back to his superiors. Already he had formulated an excuse as to why he fled the battle. As for the bridge crew, he could leave no witnesses...
"Honorable one, incoming!"
"Evasive!"
"Unable to comply, the ship is already maneuvering for slipstream jump. With our A.I offline, it's impossible to compensate in time!"
"Shields?"
"32 percent."
Hamammee cursed softly and stroked his mandibles.
"Brace for impact!"
The heavy round slammed into Column Light and the shield brazed solid silver, then popped. The ship spun erratically.
"Stabilize us!" Hamammee shouted.
"Yes, Excellency."
The spinning abruptly slowed, then stopped completely. Hamammee took one last look at the remnants of the Covenant fleet around him.
"Honorable One, we are receiving multiple hails from the other ships."
"Disregard them and jump into slip-space."
"Honorable One, there seems to be an error..."
"Feru Hakanee, I grow weary of your incompetence. I do not wish to remove you from the command center at this time, but I will if you choose to try my patience any longer. Now obey my command or suffer the consequences!"
Hakanee's eyes flashed with anger.
"Yes, Excellency." Hakanee breathed, emphasizing "Excellency".
The Column Light disappeared into slip-space.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Follow them!" Captain Taylor said.
"Yes sir, but there seems to be an alteration in their slip-space departure course."
"Match it. They're trying to throw us off. Jump on my mark, ensign."
Taylor turned to Anthony.
"Send the new heading to the Admiral as well."
"Yes sir. Sending. There are multiple hails, priority alpha, should I answer them?"
"No, there's no time."
Taylor folded his hands behind his back and gazed out the curved viewport as the last of the Covenant ships fought the onslaught of the Human ships. 'To the bitter end' Taylor thought. He could not help but be amazed at the enemy's determination. He took a deep breath and sighed wearily.
"Let's get out of here."
The Fateless jumped into slip-space as well, pursuing the Column Light, and sealing its own fate.
The Reckoning
Chapter 2: The Artifact
Hamammee leaned back into his semi-translucent chair.
"Pull up the ship's status and send it to my station, Hara Kunakee."
"Affirmative."
Hamammee skimmed over his ship's status. 2 Plasma turrets operational, 1 undergoing repairs, multiple hull breaches, shields off-line, slip-space generator error, 8 pulse laser turrets out of 13, three Seraphs.... No, wait. Slip-space generator error?
"Hakanee, what is our destination?"
"Honorable One, if you recall, I tried to tell you before. Our course has been altered, apparently due to the human weapon's impact, which must have mis-aligned the slip-stream matrix generator's coils, causing a cascade in...
"What is our destination?" Hamammee interrupted quietly.
Hakanee exhaled deeply.
"Unknown, Excellency."
"Stop the ship."
"Stopping the ship while traveling under the error will cause a catastrophic failure in the slipstream matrix. We have to wait this out."
"Do you have any idea how long that will be!?"
"No... no, Honorable One."
"It could take us anywhere in this galaxy! Someone will pay for this treachery, and by the gods, I..."
A beeping on the control panel and a slight vibration on the deck interrupted Hamammee. The ship exited slip-space, near a medium sized grey planet, spotted with large bodies of water. No clouds were visible anywhere on the planet. A very dull looking planet Hamammee thought. He stood abruptly.
"Location?"
"Calculating. We are in an uncharted portion of the galaxy, Excellency. None of the nearby star formations can be matched to the known star maps."
"Keep working. I need our A.I and long range communications online as soon as possible. Put us in a high orbit of the planet and do a passive scan of this system."
"Long range communications have been partially restored. Scanning the system. Honorable One, there is a large contact in orbit, 2,000,000 kilometers from our position."
"On screen."
A massive ring zoomed into view. It rotated slowly, and the inside surface was covered with bodies of water, entire mountain ranges, immense glaciers, and fluffy white clouds. The outside surface was covered in ornate designs and geometric shapes, and a central hub connected to the rest of the ring by 6 enormous spokes sat prominently in the center. The entire command crew paused mid-task to gaze upon this spectacle. Hamammee shook off the shock. A sacred ring, here? But all of the sacred rings have been discovered and charted, let alone guarded zealously. Yet not another Covenant ship in the entire system. Could it be, were the prophecies really true? Is this the Arc? Key to the fate of the galaxy?
"Scans of the object are complete. In appearance the construct is similar to any other sacred ring; however, this one is slightly smaller. In addition, there seems to be an extremely large ship attached to a central hub within the ring, a feature never before observed in a sacred ring"
"A ship? Human?"
"No, scans indicate this ship is of Forerunner origin. It is approximately 7 kilometers long. Energy levels are minimal, apparently in stand-by mode. According to these scans, the ship has not activated in several hundred, maybe thousands of years. Short range scanners will be more conclusive, should I bring us in closer?"
Hamammee zoomed the main display on the ship. It was very sleek, narrow from port to starboard. Four double barreled turrets were mounted on the ship, two on each side, one under the ship, near the nose, and another on the top of the vessel. As the Column Light moved, he could see the thick armor plating, the lesser arrangements of weapons, and a single engine at the rear. A very deadly looking ship. His instincts told him that he should stay far away, very far away from that ship...
"No....no."
Hamammee quickly ran over his options. If this was truly the Arc, he should immediately contact his superiors, let them take care of this... and also take credit for finding it as well, Hamammee admitted grimly to himself. A devious thought formed in his head. But if he took it for himself, surely he would become the commander of the Covenant task force, maybe even garner the rank of High Consultant, second to a Prophet alone! High Consultant.... Hamammee liked the ring of that...
Hamammee clenched a fist and made the decision.
"Yes, Hakanee, bring us in closer, 75,000 kilometers. Match our orbit with the construct's. Prepare my personal dropship for immediate departure."
"Yes Honorable One"
Hamammee tapped the comm button.
"Mogomo Furootee, scramble two of your best commando groups and meet me in launch bay 2. Be there in 5 units, no less."
A gruff voice answered, "Yes Honorable One, It will be done in 3."
"Very well."
Hamammee turned to Hakanee.
"You have tactical command. If you detect anything unusual, contact me immediately."
"Yes, honor... umm... in a manner of speaking, a Human frigate has jumped in system and is launching fighters." Hakanee replied incredulously.
"Curses, they must have followed our departure course. Disregard them, they're not foolish enough to engage us, and neither am I, not in our condition. Proceed as planned, and if the Human ship attempts to interfere, destroy it."
"Yes Excellency, I will keep you informed."
"See that you do."
Hamammee strode out of the command center.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The UNSC frigate Fateless exited slip-space amidst a green flurry of light. Immediately a pair of Longsword fighters launched.
"Charge the MAC gun and ready the missile racks. Where are they?"
"The Covenant? Scanning... Unable to pick them up on sensors, sir."
Taylor cursed loudly and hit the railing. Admiral Cole will have his head for doing something like this and coming up empty handed. Of all the stupid things to do...
"Sir, I'm picking up... something."
"Show me."
A massive rotating ring several kilometers across showed up on the main view screen.
"What the hell is that..." Taylor breathed.
"Spectral analysis is inconclusive, but it is made of an unknown material. Definitely not Covenant however."
Taylor was sure that this is what those Covenant bastards were after. But then, where were they?
"Sir, detecting a Covenant Cruiser!"
"Is it engaging us?"
"...No sir, it's moving towards the object; bringing it into a synchronous orbit along side."
Ardana, the weapons officer, glanced towards Captain Taylor.
"Should we engage?" she said hesitantly.
"No... its too risky. Recall the fighters, standby weapons, and track the cruiser. If it so much as twitches, I give you full permission to engage. "
Even though the Covenant cruiser was damaged and had no shields, the threat from a single plasma torpedo was too great, even for an ace captain like Taylor. Taylor flipped the comm switch.
"Sergeant Abrams, report to my office immediately. Inform your platoon to prepare for hostile insertion."
"Yes sir, on the double sir!"
"I'll be in my quarters, keep me informed of Sergeant Abrams's progress, Anthony."
"Yes sir."
Captain Taylor rose wearily and stalked out the room.
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