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On the Home Front Part 2
Posted By: CINC-UNSCDF<drstantz@gmail.com>
Date: 17 September 2006, 8:54 pm
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Flames erupted from the left side of the bridge. The force of the explosion threw debris through the air and across the room. Captain Roger Thorne pulled himself back into the command chair and tightened the restraints; the gravity-free environment and battle would toss him about like a rag doll otherwise.
"Status?" He demanded breathlessly.
"Pulse laser impacts on the forward armor," the ops officer declared.
The TAC display was alive with activity and the thermal sensors were off the charts. Outside the solid Titanium-A exterior of the cruiser rocket exhaust, pulse lasers, MAC rounds, plasma torpedoes, Seraphs and Longswords filled the void. The battle had gone from ordered lines to a fierce melee with dozens of capital ships locked in deadly combat.
Another explosion rocked the vessel and shook the captain from contemplation, his vessel couldn't take more abuse, certainly not if the crew was to make it out of the system in one piece. The ship's AI was disabled and life support had been ruptured on three different decks not to mention the damage to the armor and superstructure. The Fearless was running quickly out of luck.
"Launch forward Archer missiles - target enemy cruiser G," Thorne ordered. "Then bring the MACs to bear and fire when ready."
Dozens of high explosive missiles rocketed from their pods and charged towards the enemy capital ship. A UNSC cruiser ten kilometers to port of the Fearless burst when pulse lasers struck her reactor and the debris was sent flying through the vacuum.
Thorne felt the shockwave only a split second after the Bonaventure disappeared from the TAC display. There were only fourteen of them left, he counted bitterly and the Covenant had almost twice that number engaged. On the forward viewscreen the enemy cruiser came into full view and a second later Thorne felt the vibrations as the MAC rounds accelerated from the dorsal side of the vessel and then appeared on the viewscreen as twin bolts of lightning. The Covenant cruiser adjusted course to evade but could only avoid one of the fast moving projectiles. The other struck the vessel aft, its shields lit up brilliant silver as the kinetic energy of the MAC round drained its power until the protective barrier gave its last breath and then disappeared just as the slug's momentum was exhausted.
"Emergency thrusters to port!" Thorne ordered his navigation officer in a fit of adrenaline. "Take us around. Guns, aft pods!"
"Aye sir," the bridge officers replied.
The Fearless jolted sideways as the enemy fired a blaze of blue pulse lasers in reply to the attack they had just suffered. The armor breached along the UNSC cruiser's starboard side at several places and atmosphere began to vent before the sections could be sealed.
"Enemy plasma torpedoes charging sir," the weapons officer announced.
The captain clinched his teeth in anticipation counting the moments in his rapid breaths. "Aft camera," he commanded. For a second it displayed the utter confusion of the conflict as in the close proximity of battle two Covenant ships collided, the larger of the two, a cruiser rammed the ventral side of a small frigate and broke the vessel in two with its momentum. The camera then centered on the enemy cruiser they were engaging with flashes of blue light still coming from its hull. "Fire!"
This time an overwhelming swarm of guided missiles came surging, just under a hundred in total all towards the Covenant cruiser with its hopefully still downed shields. Thorne literally crossed his fingers as he watched the explosives track their slower moving target. In the meantime the unmistakable flares of red growing on the vessel's side approached critical levels.
"Reactor status critical, the coolant is at dangerous levels," the ops officer announced with grave concern. "We have to reduce power or risk a breach sir!"
"Belay that! Divert all available power to the MACs," the emotional Aussie ordered without losing sight of the viewscreen.
The vessel was then struck by simultaneously barrages of pulse lasers from both the aft and ventral vectors. Thorne glanced at the TAC display to get his bearings; Covenant cruiser L was engaging them as well. Two against one wasn't the best odds at that moment, the captain considered gravely. Back to the viewscreen the missiles closed on target but the torpedoes correlated to critical and were like tigers only steps away from pouncing.
Dozens of spots along the enemy hull lit up with orange and red flares tearing away at the meters of unnaturally colored Covenant battle armor. The enemy shrugged off the damage for they really were only gashes that the Fearless delivered. However the Covenant prepared to deliver a lethal payload as a trio of red bulbs of plasma coursed from their vessel and towards the Dreadnaught-class cruiser.
"Evasive maneuvers," Thorne demanded in frustration.
"Impact in twenty-nine seconds sir."
With tightened grips the UNSC captain watched his potential demise approach. The enemy cruiser that had launched the torpedoes in the meantime adjusted course and began to move forward and turn to pursue the torpedoes and the Fearless. Before it could complete the maneuver an unseen pair of MAC rounds trailed by a score of Archer missiles struck. Two angry lances tore straight through the Covenant cruiser along a downward vector at an angle destroying over a hundred meters through the ship. The missiles that followed blossomed along the armor and within it. For eight seconds the cruiser was motionless but held together until finally it erupted from aft and sent almost half of its superstructure flying in the opposite direction. The torpedoes that pursued the Fearless dissipated and the UNSC cruiser Sri Lanka darted through the debris where there once was an enemy vessel.
"Looks as though we owe Captain Martino a favor," Thorne announced with sigh of relief. "Bring us in line with cruiser L and fire MACs when ready."
"Aye aye sir," came the reply from the navigation station.
The viewscreen now displayed their new target though the vessel wasn't yet orientated against it. Pulse lasers still burst from all along its hull towards the Fearless which sent nothing in reply, Thorne was waiting until he had his big guns ready and aimed. The enemy shields were still up obviously shown by the occasional silver flash as heavy weapons from Longswords and stray fire hit against them.
The Fearless was suddenly shook by an enormous explosion along its hull that could be felt almost full strength on the bridge.
"Missile pods C and E destroyed sir," announced the weapons officer trying to remain calm but even Thorne had to steady himself against the urge to order the retreat from the confusion that was supposed to be a battle.
"MAC status?" the captain wanted to know instead.
"Seventy-eight percent, charging at one percent per second sir," came the reply.
Twenty-two seconds of hell in the meantime, he thought. The display was alive as ever, but only two thirds of the capital ships that had been active ten minutes earlier were still there. Then animated marker representing the Sri Lanka vanished from the display. Thorne cursed the event under his breath, but could not dwell on it. He searched the display for the fleet's flagship and found it a second later, readings still came from it and it moved without pause thankfully. The UNSC Courage of Humanity was the most powerful cruiser they had at the battle, she was a new Zulu-class and only been completed two months previous.
"Captain, system failures in engineering, we're losing power!" His operations officer announced in a panic.
"Bloody hell! Pump in the reserve coolant and push the reactors to one-hundred and twenty," Thorne ordered. "Power down every non-essential system in this hulk."
"MACs charged and firing," the weapons officer declared, and within a moment the two projectiles were seen streaking towards the enemy cruiser.
Then the whole cruiser rolled to port under the stress of a plasma torpedo as it gouged into the cruiser's hull. The entire vessel became an oven as the superheated ions melted away battle and deck plate alike. Thorne knew instantly what he had been struck with and despite the vessel's size he knew even one torpedo could be a mortal blow.
"Decompress all affected decks and sections!" The captain ordered vigilantly as the restraints from his chair dug into his stomach making breathing even difficult.
"Sir the crew," the ops officer asked shakily.
"Now lieutenant," Thorne reinforced. "We're all dead if that plasma isn't extinguished."
The lieutenant did as he was told but that still did not bring back the huge crater that existed in the starboard side where five whole decks had been burned through over half way up four sections. The viewscreen was still on and Thorne could see that the cruiser they were engaging was only charging torpedoes at that moment so there was another enemy out there targeting them or they'd been hit by a stray shot. Either answer satisfied the captain at that time, he was more interested in the cruiser they had in their sights. Now stabilized on course the Fearless continued towards their target.
"Prepare another pair of MAC rounds," Thorne ordered getting himself off the deck plating.
"The main cannons aren't answering sir," weapons replied in concern.
"Fire anything then, everything. Fire everything we have left," the captain demanded.
"Sir missiles won't penetrate, she's still got her shields up from the first MAC barrage," his weapon's officer answered back.
"I don't care about their bloody shields, enough fire power and they'll go down. Use the point defense system and pepper it with fifty-millimeters if you have to but don't stop firing! Send a fleet broadcast request every available fighter attack the target."
The bridge officers urged on by the conviction of their captain went to work, and the Fearless opened fire. Tracer rounds from the fifty-millimeter cannons darted through space together with Archer missiles and at least a few Longswords picked up on their hail as the wedge-shaped fighters weaved in close and dropped their payloads on the beleaguered Covenant cruiser. The shields held until almost the last missile struck then it collapsed under the combined stress of everything that had been propelled against it. Some ten missiles made it through and blew through the armor that protected the superstructure but it remained in the fight.
"Pull us away from her and sent out a message to all ship marking that target as shields down, we'll have to let someone else take her out," the captain declared almost with a tone of disappointment as his cruiser retreated back away from the enemy.
Even while only operating a minimally effective point defense against enemy fighters while avoiding head on battles with capital ships the Fearless continued to shake from pulse lasers evaporating areas of Titanium-A battle plate.
"Captain, there's a priority message to the fleet from the Courage of Humanity."
"Put it on," Thorne said exhausted.
A moment later the weathered and bloodied face of Fleet Admiral Preston Cole appeared on the screen. "All remaining UNSC vessels I'm issuing an ordered retreat. Meet at rally point Omega and concentrate all your fire on enemy vessels in that space. Do not engage your pursuers," the fleet commander declared. "Good luck captains." A marker on the tactical display repeatedly flashed and Thorne didn't even have to order his navigation officer to set course, the Fearless was heading to the rally point immediately as soon as the order came through.
Two Covenant vessels stood their ground in the space around the rally point only to come under fire from every single UNSC vessel in the system. The rest of the enemy forces immediately regrouped as opposed to pursuing the massed human fleet. It would not have been much of a pursuit since the distance between the rally point and the bulk of the Covenant fleet was just over two hundred and fifty thousand kilometers but after the melee of moments earlier they might have been in different systems. The numbers were heavy on the side of the Covenant, seventeen mixed capital ships almost entirely destroyers and cruisers against eight remaining UNSC Dreadnaught-class cruisers and Admiral Cole's flagship.
"All vessels report status and prepare randomized exit vectors," Cole boomed through the bridge speakers of every vessel in the fleet.
At the same time Bumblebee life pods and Longswords retreated from the middle of the debris field of the battle to the rally point not wanting to be left behind. A few of more ambitious Covenant vessels opened fire on those smaller ships but most prepared their salvos of plasma torpedoes for a final bombardment. All of the UNSC fleet waited in order, the remains of their battle fleet, which had once been twenty-three cruisers and eight smaller warships.
The admiral having received the confirmations from every vessel went back on the channel. "Republic and Mongol make your jumps, Midway and Nigeria stand-by and await Beta and Sierra squadrons to get onboard then fall out." The two cruisers having received the order darted out of the system in an instant, three Covenant ships altered course and prepared to pursue, but Cole had anticipated that. "Open fire, target those ships in pursuit."
The combined salvo of the seven remaining cruisers was only ten MAC rounds and just over a hundred Archer missiles but it was enough of a threat that the Covenant vessels broke formation to begin evasive maneuvers and the three attempting to make pursuit were stalled. Just as the MAC rounds reached the Covenant fleet the second group of cruisers fled the system.
"Justice you're next get those Bumblebees in hold then jump. Everyone else maintain fire, we have to hold out," Cole said over the channel. Thorne grew anxious from his bridge, the shock of the first salvo had worn off the enemy and they were moving in closer and the red motes growing from the sides of their vessels looking all the more dangerous.
"You heard the admiral," he told his weapons officer. "Spend every last fifty round we have and launch the rear Archers as well." They had to make a stand for as long possible to make it out. "What's the status of the slipspace drive?"
"Sixty percent and climbing sir."
The Justice jumped out a moment later leaving only the Fearless, Manchuria, Stockholm and Cole's flagship. The tension had boiled to the same extend as the enemy plasma, and both were on the verge of release. Thorne's fists were clinched viewing the screen in front of him. He had at least another minute before they could jump but the torpedoes would reach them well before that point. In the docking bays new arrivals in Pelicans and Bumblebees entered the three Dreadnaught-class cruisers to make the jump as well, the last ones to make it out.
"Hold onto your hats everyone," Cole's voiced echoed over the speakers. "Transfer everything left to your slipspace drives and exit when ready. Cole out."
Thorne nodded to the lieutenant at operations to follow the command, the drive was at eighty percent when the torpedoes launched. Over fifty individual flames of red shining against the black of space and the destroyed metal hulks that remained in the floating junkyard of a battlefield. They moved towards the four UNSC vessels aligned now in line across.
"Impact in twenty seconds sir!" The weapons officer exclaimed. "We're not going to make it out in time."
Thorne froze, the admiral had to know that, he knew all their situations, the only reason the Stockholm and Manchuria were still there was because they were also slow charging their slipspace drives and accelerating out.
"Impact in fourteen seconds."
"Hold steady captains," Cole's voice came through. "Make your jumps and get out of here. I'll hold the line here. Earth needs you. Fight for her!"
The Courage of Humanity engaged its main thrusters and moved out of the line. Shock took command over Thorne and he froze in his seat in front of the viewscreen. He was far too preoccupied to speak. Admiral Cole's cruiser fired a pair of MAC rounds at the enemy and a compliment of missiles streaking towards the plasma. In a brilliant flash two Shiva warheads exploded and a white light consumed the entire area around the Covenant fleet. The Courage of Humanity used its emergency thrusters and turned to face its entire starboard side to the enemy barrage. Of the over fifty torpedoes that started the journey just under that number remained, the others had dissipated when the vessels that launched them were disabled or destroyed by Cole's last attack.
It was with seventeen seconds left to full slipspace drive power that the first torpedo was seen striking Cole's ship from onboard the Fearless's bridge. Thorne watched in wonder for those were the longest seventeen seconds of his life. The Courage of Humanity lurched over from the impacts along its over kilometer long hull. Red light encapsulated the entire vessel burning through every single piece of Titanium-A on it. The ship shrouded the three others behind it, taking every impact until finally the cruiser broke apart into five separate pieces each over a hundred meters in length. The admiral had shut down the reactor at the last moment to prevent a breach and prevent a nuclear explosion. There were no life pods or ships to retrieve, little did they know at the time that Cole had already done his best to evacuate as many as possible in the last life pods and transports, still there were far too many good men and women that died onboard. Torpedoes at the tail end of barrage continued on course, some collided with the cruiser's debris but others kept going. The Manchuria jumped out first and made it clear, the Stockholm two seconds later then at last the Fearless. Thorne's last sight before the viewscreen went dark was the image of Cole's flagship in millions of small pieces together with almost two dozen other UNSC wrecks.
Thorne awoke in a sweat; sitting entirely vertical in bed he looked around in the darkness to try and get his bearings. He panting and could barely focus. He ran his hands through his graying hair while he caught his breath. The nightmares didn't get better whether he was on ship or safely on the ground. It was not always the same one, but as a veteran of two full campaigns and twelve different engagements with Covenant naval forces there were a lot of bad memories to draw from. The admiral looked over to the clock at the bedside; it was two o'clock in the morning local. He had a meeting in less then eight hours on a different continent. The now rear-admiral took a deep slow breath and laid back down hoping to put dreams aside and just get some restful sleep.
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