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On the Home Front Part 1
Posted By: CINC-UNSCDF<drstantz@gmail.com>
Date: 14 September 2006, 10:13 pm
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0800 Hours, October 6, 2552 (Military Calendar)/
UNSC Prowler Forgotten entering Sol system
The black clad vessel emerged from the darkness as space was rippled and torn away to make room for its exit. ONI operated hundreds of spacecraft that were not registered nor did they ever appear in a single UNSC record. The Forgotten wasn't one of those, it was recorded on the UNSC fleet manifest and therefore it could take a more overt route to access the facilities orbiting Earth. Moments before it had left slipspace the prowler sent out a security signal to announce its arrival, and disarm the primary defense that protected Earth. Covenant trickery had become a reliable trait to their tactics and the commanders of the UNSC were no fools. As soon as a vessel was detected en-route to the Sol system the defense grid activated and even after receiving a confirmation of a friendly vessel, a third of the planet's total orbital defenses remained fully charged. After Reach no one was ready to underestimate the Covenant, not when they were literally footsteps away from the human home world.
Lieutenant Richmond pulled the throttle back and put the vessel into a tight bank as he prepared a vector to begin an orbit of the planet. With Reach now nothing more then a smoldering ruin Earth had the greatest number of orbital facilities in the expanse of UNSC space. Ten military docking rings, four civilian ones, terrestrial satellites, extraterrestrial satellites, as well as the ever increasing fleet of Super MAC defense facilities. All the regular shipyards used by the UNSC to maintain the fleet were actually located elsewhere; Mars, Luna, and Alpha Centuri too name a few. Nevertheless Earth at any given time had approximately 500 vessels operated within its space, both military and civilian. Richmond got a small taste of that number passing by a convoy of twelve medium sized transports escorted by a squadron UNSC patrol cutters.
It had been over a week since the lieutenant had seen his home, that wasn't to say that it was a long time, most crewmen on a warship saw Earth fewer then once every two or three months. As an ONI officer his job was centralized to a great extent and he only strayed from the green and blue bulb every so often.
"Lock in an approach to Bravo station," Richmond instructed the shipboard AI. The craft shifted its orientation slightly and aimed for a direct course to the docking ring.
The lieutenant's craft passed by Jersey station which held a geosynchronous orbit over the tiny island in the channel on the edge of the continental European Union. The docking ring was only two thousand kilometers away when Richmond sent out his access codes and requested permission to dock. The bay doors on the station groaned silently open to allow the sleek vessel within. The prowler decelerated until it came to a hovering stop ten meters inside the ring. A pair of strong docking clamps lowered down and secured the vessel in place. As soon as he felt the clamps jolt the vessel Richmond deactivated the prowler's engines entirely. A few moments later a message appeared at his console informing him that the atmosphere within the bay had been reintroduced; it was safe to leave the craft. The ONI officer opened the hatch, and transferred both his work and the AI out of the ship's systems for transport. Both were important and if he lost either his bosses would have his head.
A pair of dock workers went into the bay just as the lieutenant left to start servicing the ONI craft meanwhile Richmond took a stroll into the inner concourse. There were a large number of military personnel in the unmistakable UNSC uniforms but civilians wandered the decks as well. Before the war only a handful of orbital facilities like the docking rings served the military but the United Nations' Mobilization Act had changed a great deal throughout human controlled space. Almost every single thing the military could get their hands on was confiscated or on "loan" from corporations and organizations. Bravo station still operated with civilian craft on a normal day to day basis but the moment the UNSC needed it entirely they would have it. It was a consequence of war, but after almost three decades most people had gotten used to it.
The lieutenant approached one of the shuttle departure consoles, he followed the screen's instructions, inputting his destination and basic information but when it came to payment he pulled out his ONI credentials and scanned them in. Another perk of his position gave him a transportation account through the military. It was supposed to be strictly for official ONI business but like everyone else he took a trip every now and then from the UNSC.
The first shuttle wouldn't leave for another twenty minutes so Richmond had a moment to relax and stretch out. He took a seat in the departures waiting area and pulled an information monitor out. The small screen was twenty centimeters across the diagonal and folded out of the armrest of the seat. It gave news, weather, even the scores from the previous day from across the galaxy. A bulletin flashed across the miniature screen reading: Covenant Armada Obliterated in the Sirius Alpha System. Richmond smiled to himself. His colleagues in section two must have jumped on that story like there was no tomorrow; even with the incredible victory it was, ONI would find one way or another to embellish the win. Even Richmond could agree though to a naïve young man or woman seeing that story would erase the fear caused by the fall of Reach. Section two tried their best to avoid putting the news into the hands of the civilian population and when at last it was revealed the Covenant invasion force was overstated as close to one thousand vessels, and UNSC losses reduced to only half the actual number. The Battle of Reach was portrayed a valiant but impossible conflict to win, such as it was, but it wouldn't be human to leave it at that. The news told tales of sacrifice and bravery against certain death, inflicting tens if not hundreds of thousands of casualties against the enemy. Making the Covenant regret the attempt; even if they did succeed it was a costly victory. Richmond could read through the lines, he'd seen the Covenant in action. They didn't fear humanity, and whatever vessels the fleet and the Super MACs did manage to destroy only served to enrage the enemy all the more. If Earth was to win the war it would come from defeating every last Covenant. The complete extermination of every race within their religious conglomerate was the only way to win, because the Covenant intended the same fate for humanity.
0850 Hours, October 6, 2552 (Military Calendar)/
Fleet Command (FLEETCOM) Facility Alpha-7, Lisbon, European Union
The conference room was sound proof and its walls contained electronic scramblers for both video and audio surveillance. In the middle was a long rectangular table surrounded by ten high-backed chairs. For a moment the room was dark and silent that was until seven men and women entered through the room's double doors. They all wore the dark grey uniforms of UNSC naval officers but there wasn't any one among them which did not wear the silver six-edged star of a commodore or an admiral's golden stars. They were the United Nations Space Command Naval Operations Committee or the NOC. With the exception of the Admiralty itself there was no other body which commanded or oversaw such an enormous portion of the fleet. The supervision of the fleet and most naval actions were their primary responsibility and none of them took it lightly. Around the room there were hundreds of years of experience as one could tell from the aged faces. The youngest of them all was the thirty-nine year old Commodore Patrick Hall a recent addition to the committee after two officers were lost in Olympic Tower when Reach fell.
The center light came on and illuminated the room. "Good morning everyone," Admiral Santiago Cruz declared. "We shall begin this session of the Naval Operations Committee. I'll let Admiral Gerov present the fleet report. Sergei if you please." The older admiral and chair of the committee turned to his colleague and sat down.
The Vice Admiral rose and rubbed the grey stubble that coated his chin, like Commodore Hall he was a recent addition to the committee. He cleared his throat and punched a series of commands into the keypad near his seat. The top of the table across almost the entire surface then began to part and revealed a screen below it. The mechanical humming continued until almost the entire table had turned to a giant monitor.
"I think most of you will be quite familiar with the report since we are all aware that the conflict has achieved a certain status quo," Gerov announced with his thick accent. Then he pressed another key and the screen on the table turned from black to display a star map, more precisely a map of UNSC space. "This data is as of 0900 today, and will be updated throughout this meeting, I've taken the liberty to bring along Arthur one of FLEETCOM Operations Division's AIs to provide a detailed briefing as well." Then a holographic figure just under three feet tall rose from the table and took the form of a medieval king. It didn't speak yet; it was content to wait for the Admiral to finish and only floated an inch above the screen in silence. Gerov returned his listeners' attention to the star map. "The Fourth and Seventh fleets are currently engaged separately in two operational theatres against Covenant forces. As ordered the Eleventh and Ninth has pulled back and have begun to disband to perform convoy and patrol duties in the Inner Colonies. In preparation of Operation Interruption the Fifth Fleet together with elements of the Second are en-route to the Alpha Centuri System to take on personnel and supplies. In accordance with Admiral Harper's request two Argonaut-class destroyers and six new Falcon-class frigates have been transferred to the Home Fleet from the Tenth. Two Dreadnaught-class light cruisers have been ordered refitted and out from the mothballs and transferred to Admiral Al-Kaman to replace his losses. The other fleet movement worth mentioning is the combination of four Renaissance and Falcon-class frigates from the Fifteenth moving towards the Sirius System under operational command of Task Force Winter."
"I have a question about Task Force Winter and the forces in the Sirius System," Rear Admiral Jessica Elder declared, she oversaw all UNSC operations in Sector Four, which contained eight colonized human worlds and bordered the space that contained the Sirius System. She was concerned about spill-over into her command which was already in jeopardy since a Covenant fleet arrived two weeks earlier. "With the exception of ONI's wonderful reporting I haven't heard anything about the conflict."
Admiral Gerov took the question directly, although he did not operate that sector he was well enough versed in the skirmish to answer. "At approximately 0830 October 2nd destroyers Isaac Brock and Prophet Muhammad engaged and destroyed a Covenant cruiser and a Marathon-class cruiser UNSC Confidence thought lost was recovered when her captain arrived in system. Arthur do we have an image?" The AI streamed with calculations for a split second then a model of the Confidence appeared beside it in the damaged state it had been when it entered UNSC space. "Admiral Kruger, FLEETCOM Sector Three Commander, dispatched an additional seven vessels and successfully UNSC forces destroyed six Covenant vessels sent as reinforcements. The destroyer Horn and frigate Huron were destroyed and the frigate Waterloo suffered extensive damage to its superstructure and could not be salvaged and had to be broken apart. Arthur have there been any readings from of any of the nearby remote sensor stations?"
The AI turned to the admiral and quickly confirmed the question taking less than a millisecond. "No contact or readings of any inbound Covenant vessels detected." That was enough to convince the brass in that room although the situation still carried an inherent risk, the Covenant would return but how to deal with the situation would require finesse.
"Task Force Winter consists of two modern cruisers, a Mystic-class carrier, a destroyer and frigate and three corvettes currently with the additional vessels I mentioned expected within the day. Kruger believes this is a sufficient force for the Sirius System," Gerov concluded.
"Nine capital ships and three corvettes to hold a system is a little unreasonable to expect from our forces despite those two small victories," Rear Admiral Markannen declared. "There are no facilities to support the force in the system. How can a force that small expect to maintain a firm position in an isolated system?"
"Reserving even twelve vessels for a world of only three million without any military facilities of mention is a considerable demand. I think this committee should reevaluate Kruger's stance. Nine capital ships could very well turn the tide if the Covenant chooses to attack Alpha Centuri rather then the Sirius System again," Admiral Otaro recommended. He was one of the most conservative minded individuals there, mostly because he was a former sector commander, that was until the Covenant glassed every single human populated world in that region of space. "A few well defended strongholds can withstand Covenant attacks, Stanforth proved that at Sigma Octanus."
"I think you meant to say the admiral was lucky," Cruz interjected. "In the dozens of engagements we've had with the Covenant on that scale only Harvest and Sigma Octanus worked in our favor. Those aren't odds I'm very comfortable with not with Reach gone. We have all seen ONI's estimates, even with every yard operating at 110 percent and an operational fleet they only give us seven or eight weeks."
"The Earth Defense Grid is almost complete though, three hundred Super MACs, even the Covenant armada at Reach could not withstand a barrage like that for very long," the younger Hall spoke up for the first time.
"We can't rely on the orbital stations for all the support," Gerov cautioned. "A single torpedo can destroy the whole station or the enemy can still make the same maneuver past them to destroy the fusion generators planet side."
"What about battle plating?" Otaro questioned. "If they were reinforced with a meter or so of battle plate that could offer greater projection against enemy salvos."
"The linear accelerator would still be vulnerable, and without that the station is useless in any event," Markannen pointed out.
"Gentlemen please," Cruz rose to say. "The engineers have done everything possible; it's not our job to worry about design procedures. We have seventeen battle fleets and a merchant marine under our operational jurisdiction; I suggest we look to them first. Admiral Gerov please continue."
The Vice Admiral looked to the star map, and directed his listener's attention to the display. "Arthur if you please," Gerov said and then just over a dozen stars were highlighted. "Each of these systems are currently under patrol by fleet elements, and maintain UNSC facilities for refit or repair of capital vessels." He gave a nod to the AI and the map highlighted a new set of stars, this time far fewer in number. "These are the number of systems which possess operational ship yards. As you can see, we can stop the bleeding but quickly we'll run out of ships to patch up."
The response from the committee was silence; they all took a moment to appreciate the gravity of the situation. They could only operate a fleet that was in being, vessels were lost faster then they could be built which meant sooner or later they would run a deficit. That meant the end. Elder spoke up first. "Perhaps Admiral Otaro was correct in that we should mass our forces and protect these key facilities for as long as possible."
"And let them go down in history as another Reach?" The until up to then silent Commodore O'Hara asked negatively. "We can't possibly jeopardize our stance now by concentrating all fleets to a handful of key systems or even Sol for that matter can we?"
"The Covenant know where Earth is!" Otaro exclaimed. "In the end what can the Inner Colonies do if Earth falls? Once we lose this planet we lose everything. The entire government will fall apart, all the administration, currency, trade, gone. If there is a stand to make it has to be here not at a ship yard." The admiral's words excited the entire committee. They were all on edge and only met from their normal duties once or twice a week which meant it was all the more heated when they were together. Arthur the AI simply waited, processed and followed the conversations. To it the argument truly was an eternity.
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