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The Battle for Earth: Apocalypse
Posted By: Bodie<bodie_bumm@hotmail.com>
Date: 13 February 2006, 2:07 pm
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1130 Hours, October 20, 2552 (Military Calendar)/
Sol System. UNSC Marathon Cruiser Apocalypse, in geosynchronous orbit above Earth.
Fleet Admiral Harper stood at the tactical screen of the bridge of his fine vessel. He was solely in charge of the fleet guarding Earth. If you could call it a "fleet". The real UNSC fleet was destroyed at Reach, and all for nothing. Reach was gone, everyone was dead, and the UNSC forces were crippled. Never the less, he wasn't going to let the Covenant glass Earth, not while he was in charge. They know where Earth is, he thought, but what they don't know is what they'll meet when they get here. The 200 orbital MAC Cannons packed a real punch, and could blow a Covenant ship to hell, where it belonged.
A broadcast came in, on FLEETCOM 7. Harper nodded, that would be the awards ceremony. Lord Hood was awarding the survivors and heroes of the incident at what ONI called "Halo". Harper didn't full understand it all, and when he was told what the ring had stored underneath it and what its primary function was, he didn't want to know more. He wondered how SPARTAN-117 escaped alive. Blowing up a starship's reactors wasn't something you would do everyday. Unless you were a SPARTAN.
"Sergeant Major, the Colonial Cross is awarded for acts of singular daring and devotion, for a soldier of the United Earth Space Corps" Lord Hood's voice boomed on the speakers. "Commander Miranda Keyes. Your father's actions were in keeping with the highest traditions of military service. His bravery in the face of impossible odds reflects great credit, upon himself, and the UNSC. The Navy has lost one of its best."
Harper thought for a moment, about Jacob Keyes. He hadn't met him personally, but was there at Sigma Octanus IV, and saw Keyes' damaged destroyer. At first, Harper was furious because of the destruction, but when he learned of Keyes' maneuver, he had a change of heart. The man was one of the most brilliant tacticians he had ever encountered.
Next in line was SPARTAN-117s award. Not like he needs more medals… Harper thought jokingly. He had deep respect for the SPARTAN, and was looking forward to this ceremony. Its not many times that 5 soldiers could blow up a Covenant Battle Station, and its flotilla of 500 warships. He was glad the UNSC had the SPARTANS, even if they had to go through what they did, at that young age. He focused his attention towards the main veiwscreen, watching the ceremony, when his ship AI, Dawson, materialized on the holo-panel near the screen.
Dawson was a work of art, an AI to rival the famed Cortana. His intrusion systems were state of the art. He was simply a male version of Cortana. He was so powerful, that he alone controlled the Apocalypse's systems. When he chose to be seen, he looked like a masculine, handsome teenage boy, of around 15, wearing only denim shorts. An AI looking like this was highly unacceptable, according to FleetCom. But Harper's rank gave him privileges.
"Sir, we have slipspace ruptures, directly outside of the maximum range of our MAC battle clusters," reported Dawson, "I estimate fourteen Covenant capital ships. Twelve cruisers, two Assault Carriers." Dawson then disappeared.
Harper swore. "They caught us off guard! All hands to battle stations, and alert the fleet."
"Yes sir!" said Dawson
"Tell them to follow my lead, and do not break ranks until the order is given. Charge and load all weapons." Harper said.
"Sending, Aye, sir." came the reply.
Harper keyed the comm. channel to the Cairo.
"This is Fleet Admiral Harper. We are engaging the enemy." He said into the mike. The voice that replied was deep and rough, it was Lord Hood.
"Negative, Admiral. Form a defensive perimeter around the cluster." Hood said, then the channel went dead. Hood was a Fleet Admiral, the same rank as Harper, but Harper trusted his judgement, and followed Hood's suggestion. He pulled back, and so did most of the fleet.
Dawson chose this moment to reappear. "Sir, compared to the fleet that attacked Reach, this is a small fleet. Something may be wrong."
Harper's thoughts reeled back again, to the battle at Sigma Octanus IV. The Covenant was acting strange there, sacrificing ships to send boarding craft down to the surface. The same thing occurred at Reach.
"Dawson! Check for any small Covenant craft in the area, and not their Seraph fighters." He said to a disembodied Dawson.
"Yes, sir! There are approximately 15 Covenant boarding craft in the area. They are heading for Battle Cluster 72. The Athens, Cairo and Malta are in that cluster sir." Came Dawson's reply.
"They're going to try to take our MAC guns offline, give their capital ships a straight shot at Earth." Harper said, to himself, but Dawson heard.
"How are our weapons?" he asked Dawson.
"MACs at 93 percent charge, and all archer missile pods are loaded." he replied. Normal Marathon class Cruisers had a dual MAC cannon arrangement, similar to a Destroyers cannons, except that each cannon could fire twice, giving 4 shots per charge. The Apocalypse's cannon had a similar design to the Pillar of Autumn's. Harper's ship was the only ship in the fleet that could fire an amazing six charges with each charge.
When one of the capital ships came into range, the Apocalypse fired all 6 super fast bullets of death, and 150 high explosive missiles at it. The first two rounds downed its shields, and the remaining rounds crashed through the flaming carcass of the ship, which tumbled and crashed into another capital ship, destroying them both in the explosion of their reactors.
The humans seemed to be winning the war, because of their numbers, and the fact that there was no Covenant backup. But what Harper didn't expect was that the Orbital MAC Platform Malta, who had crushed 3 ships with her cannon, exploded, sending flaming shrapnel out into space. A piece hit a human Frigate, destroying it. The MAC Platform Athens met an identical fate.
The second explosion seemed to stop the human fleet, and gave the remaining 5 Covenant capital ships some leverage. Until one human cruiser, Black November, burst through the Covenant lines and detonated its reactor. It, and three capital ships were consumed in a ball of nuclear fire. That leaves two capital ships, and the carriers. thought Harper.
It was a miracle that the Cairo hadn't been turned into floating molecules, but It was no use, the Carriers were too close, and the MAC cannons had trouble aiming at a close range, still Cortana tried. Harper received a message from the Cairo. For the second time, it was Lord Hood.
"Cortana! Concentrate your fire on the first carrier. Admiral, do what you can against the second!" he boomed.
"First echelon, you're with me, blanket those cruisers, and take 'em out one by one. Second echelon, keep those carriers busy." Harper said over the comm. The first Carrier slipped past the Cairo, and through the Malta's debris field, and disappeared in Earth's atmosphere. Harper could do anything about that. But the second one would pay, big time.
Harper was about to launch a full-scale attack on the Cruiser when Dawson appeared.
"Sir, I've talked with Cortana… And it would be better if you saw it yourself." He said, and disappeared. A new series of pictures appeared on the veiwscreen. They showed the Master Chief and some crazy ass maneuvers and plans. Something only a SPARTAN could pull off.
"He won't get through the shields or armor!" Harper exclaimed.
"I've taken control of two Longsword Bombers form launch bay 3 and they will punch a hole in the armor. The shield is already down, due to a probable malfunction." Dawson replied calmly.
Harper was amazed at the new levels that AIs could get to.
"Sir," Dawson piped up, "Photon Radiation Spike near the Carrier. A pulse laser!"
Harper knew what to do. That pulse laser could fry the Chief, and he was the only one that could save Earth, and of that, Harper was certain. The Apocalypse's thrusters activated moving the ship into the course of the laser.
"It has been an honour to serve with you, sir" Dawson said.
Harper couldn't let Dawson die, so he activated the AI Transfer sequence that would transport Dawson's core into a nearby ship of the captain's choice. Harper chose the Cairo, and activated the sequence, saving Dawson's life.
As soon as this happened, big red words appeared on the veiwscreen.
Thank you.
The laser guttered the Apocalypse from top to bottom, vaporizing Fire Control, Life Support and the Bridge.
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