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Authors note: I have used a few acronyms and terms in this piece, in a break with tradition I felt it better to clarify the before the story rather than after.
CAP: Combat Air Patrol. Fighter craft designated to protect a ship from enemy aircraft, essentially defensive interceptors.
Flight: A group of four aircraft
Guns: This is used in its more obvious sense as well as term of endearment of sorts by a ships Captain to the tactical officer

Military Calendar 10.20.2552
UNSCS 'Sword of Atlas'
Marathon Class Cruiser
Captain Alexi Simmonds commanding

The ceremony aboard the Cairo was being televised aboard every ship and battle station in Earth orbit, and was being watched with wonder and sadness by the crews of those vessels
'For acts of singular daring and bravery….'
Alexi Simmonds was no exception.
As Sergeant Johnson received his colonial cross Alexi found his hand stray up to his own medal, pinned onto his left breast and toyed with it, he remembered the battle above some unnamed planet in which he had won it, and the cost to do so.
How many of his crew had died?

'I've told you not to think about that before, how many times more will I have to?'
He snapped back to reality wondering who had spoken
'Relax Alexi it's only me'
'I'm sorry Planea'
Planea was the shipboard AI, in so far as his ship had a soul, this was it. All AI's chose a visual way of representing themselves; Simmonds had seen them as everything from Samurai warriors and Greek gods to rather dour looking men in suits. Planea had chosen, for reasons unknown to anyone but herself, to take the form of a UNSC marine. She had once used the form of a chariot riding celtic warrior (Simmond's vaguely remembered her saying something about 'Boudacia') had changed suddenly one day to the confusion of the on board techs, when they tried to fix it they couldn't find anything wrong with her. Their confusion ended when Simmonds had simply asked her about it.
'I fancied a change, do you think it suits me?' had been her simple reply.
The explanation had been accepted at face value by the techs and no more was said about it, Simmonds was not so easily convinced.
He suspected that the marine's efforts in repelling boarders during their last engagement had struck a chord with Planea and she wanted to emulate them as a way of saying thank you.
Of course, if it was true, Planea wasn't saying.

Launch Bay 5
UNSCS 'Sword of Atlas'

'Captain Miranda Keyes…
Several of the assembled pilots cheered, she was receiving an award on behalf of her father, many of them had fought alongside Jacob Keyes and one had even met him, he had been a fine leader and would be sorely missed.

Gregory Walsh eyed his men and women with pride, the 362nd fighter wing was an excellent outfit, and he couldn't help however but be shocked at how young some of them were, the recent campaigns had left them seriously under strength until the reinforcements had arrived 8 months previously.
How many of them would get to grow old?

'Captain, incoming private from Fleet admiral Harper'
'Show me'
He read the message with a deepening sense of dread
'Planea, sound the alarm, all hands to battle stations'
'Not another drill!'
'No Planea, but I wish it was, you know what to do'
Comprehension dawned on her face, followed by fear. AI's could not die per se, but the destruction of the ship or even its capture would result in her being deleted if she could not be evacuated, no one knew why the AI's feared 'dying' it hadn't been programmed into them, and yet, they faced their own breed of mortality with as much courage and fortitude as the flesh and blood humans around them.
'As you wish Captain'

Across the ship alarms and warning lights flared into life, weapons lockers in the armoury slid open while marines and crew rushed through the corridors of the colossal ship to prepare her for the coming storm.

'All hands to battle stations! All hands to battle stations! This is not a drill, I say again this is not a drill! Marines prepare to repel boarders, all pilots and ground crew to your hangers, scramble, scramble'

SCRAMBLE
The sudden explosion of noise had roused the dozing Walsh, with practiced precision he suited up and sped towards his waiting Longsword fighter, all around him his fellow pilots did the same, he had done this all before as had the other veterans, for the new kids it was just like another drill, the reality of war would hit them hard, if they were lucky it would have the opportunity to hit them again.
The voice of Wing Commander Forrest came through on his suits communicator
'Ok guys we've been slated to fly CAP for the Atlas keep those bastards off her back and stay in tight, good hunting people'

The Ship awoke from its slumber and began the transition from placid beast to a titan of destruction; railguns slid through open gun ports, auto cannon point defence turrets whirred into life and shells the size of a pickup were loaded into the main cannon's magazine. The covenant would come and the Atlas would be waiting.
Avatar of Death.
War incarnate.

She passed over the Battle station Cairo with a grace that belied her size and purpose, the Longsword escort flew alongside. In the command centre of the station below them the Spartan, Master Chief, was preparing for his own battle that lay ahead.

The Fleet had moved to engage the covenant fleet until Admiral Harper had been ordered to pull back and form the defence around Battle Cluster 17, composed of the battle stations Cairo, Malta and Athens. It made sound military sense; the added firepower of the battle cluster would be lethal to the covenant ships once they moved into range. However just because it made sense didn't mean Simmonds had to like it, every bone in his body screamed that they should be fighting the covenant in deep space, as far from Earth as possible, this was the cradle of humanity, that war should come to her doorstep after so may years of peace on a unified planet disgusted him.
'Sir, we have boarding craft in bound, command believes their headed for the cluster'
'Understood, order all fighters to engage, including the CAP, we'll just have to fend for ourselves for as long as we can'

'All squadrons engage boarding vessels'
Walsh opened the throttle as wide as it would go, accelerating to phenomenal speeds to close with the covenant boarding craft, he was flanked by three other fighters all piloted by veterans with whom he had flown with for three years.
Exploiting a hole in the covenant formation they tore into the swarm of small craft firing all the way in, cannon shell and rockets swept over the tightly packed ships Seraph's and phantoms were ripped apart but the boarding pods were harder to destroy, they were made to take glancing hits from ship board weapons, a Longsword's internal armament was barely enough to scratch them.
Walsh grinned bestially, unfortunately for the covenant the external weapons were quite capable of destroying them, specially designed warheads and tracking systems allowed the scimitar missile to effortlessly tail and destroy a pod, rumours abounded that it was equipped with a powerful neutron emitter that would kill any aboard the target with a powerful blast of ionising radiation, such a terrible warhead would make the weapon was illegal under the UNSC arms treaties, but so what if it was true? This is war.

Despite the efforts of the fighters several pods broke through and began latching onto the stations of Battle Cluster 17, they would have to fight the covenant boarders, Walsh could clearly see several pods clamp onto the Cairo, they were in for a nasty surprise, he doubted the Master Chief would be any more forgiving than he was.

Walsh flipped the fighter and tailed a phantom as it flew through the melee, unleashing a burst of cannon fire he tore open the side of the passenger compartment and watched with grim satisfaction as the aliens on board were sucked into space to freeze in the void.
A group of Seraph starfighters bore down on his flight from above, plasma fire buffeted his wingman's Longsword throwing in off balance, a fuel rod stuck the cockpit totally vaporising it and the pilot.
With a anguished yell he flew at them, a well placed missile blew away the central Seraph, as he flew towards them in a high speed game of chicken, the two remaining Seraph's banked off in opposite directions, each tailed by one of the other Longsword's in his flight, he had had his vengeance.
'Alpha and Bravo flights form up on the Atlas, we need the CAP back in position'
Walsh was furious, he had been denied further prey, but there would be others.

'Captain, the Malta reports she has driven off her boarders'
A cheer went up from the bridge crew, victories of any kind were few and far between in this war, the jubilant comms officer on the Malta was being played for all to hear
'I don't believe it! Their retreating! We won!'
A powerful shockwave struck the vessel, like the fist of an angry god, the force threw the ship off balance and sent the cruiser into a slow but steady spin.
Planea, dispatch damage control teams and medic to the impact zone! Helm! Regain attitude, use reserve power if you have to, just get us out of this spin!
'What the hell was that? Planea, tactical, give me an assessment, the covenant ships aren't in range yet, what hit us?'
The tactical officer replied first
'It wasn't a torpedo, it was… the Malta, she's gone, no survivors, they…'
'Thank you tactical, I understand'
'Yes sir'
A second shockwave struck the ship, although with less power than the first, Simmonds could only assume it was from further away, this time Planea gave the explanation.
'They destroyed the Athens Sir, the Cairo AI, Cortana, is sending me the data dumps, she says the covenant boarders planted bombs on the stations, Cortana also said that she's about to bring the stations MAC gun on line, she suggests you cover your ears'
Simmonds gave chuckle, Cortana had developed a wickedly dry sense of humour, Planea had confessed to hoping to develop one as well.
'First echelon you're with me, blanket those cruisers, take 'em out one by one, second echelon keep those carriers busy.'
'You heard the man, Guns, let's give our visitors something to think about, engage the second carrier, fire as you will'
'Aye aye sir'
The ship shuddered as the spinal mount main cannon threw its round into space, surrounding ships leant their firepower to the assault, battering at the carriers formidable shielding
'Alexi, I have a message from Cortana'
'What is it?'
'Im going loud'

The MAC gun was not so much mounted on the battle station as the other way around, an enormous solid slug was fired at super-sonic speeds towards anything within range. A lucky cruiser could survive three, maybe four direct hits. An unlucky one wouldn't even have time to realise it had been hit at all.
Cortana's first target was not lucky.
Simmods watched the video feed from Admiral Harper's Battlecruiser, the MAC round smashed into a covenant cruiser amidships and snapped its spine clean in two, the parts tumbled through space trailing glowing debris, the rear section blew up in a fantastic blue explosion, the forward section continued to tumble towards Earth. Battle Cluster 14 was already tracking it and would destroy it before it hit the atmosphere.

'Cortana has shifted fire to the lead carrier Alexi; Admiral Harper is reforming the first echelon for an attack on the second carrier'
'Keep it coming Guns, cant let them take all the glory, comms inform Admiral Harper that the shield on the second carrier has been disabled'
'The first carrier has broken through! It's heading for the Cairo!'
'Helm, can we engage?'
'Negative Sir, it's got too much of a lead on us, we won't be able to turn and accelerate in time'
'DAMMIT! The Cairo can't absorb a full broadside from that close; I need ideas people anything at …'
'The carrier completely ignored the Cairo, it's headed for Earth'
Relieved that the carrier had spared the Cairo, Simmonds gave his attention back to the second.
'Alexi, I have a new message from Cortana, they have found and defused the bomb planted on the Cairo, they have a use for it, but well… you're not going to believe it when you see it'
Simmonds eyes stretched open with amazement, she had been right; he didn't believe it until he looked at it again.

Walsh flew between the enormous capital ships with the other surviving flight member, Davis had been killed by point defence fire from the second Covenant carrier as he flew in to deliver a bomb load.
'Flight Lieutenant Walsh, this is Captain Simmonds, I am ordering you to break off and lead Bravo flight in on an attack on the second carrier, target co-ordinates are being uploaded to you as we speak, Simmonds out'
Walsh did not appreciate being denied his prey for the second time, but orders were orders, as he came about he could have sworn he saw something fly out of one of the Cairo airlocks.

'Captain, the Covenant have seen the Chief, they know what he's trying to do, the carrier is firing its starboard particle beam at him'
'Helm, put us between the carrier and the Chief, Planea tell all personnel who can make it off the ship to do so, tell the rest… I'm sorry'
Planea looked up at him
'Been a pleasure to serve with you Alexi'
The cruiser threw all its power into its engines for one final dash; the covenant beam sliced open her side.
The last thing Captain Alexi Simmonds saw was a glorious beam of pale purple devouring his ship's bridge. He almost found it beautiful.

Walsh felt the loss of the Sword of Atlas keenly, it had been his home for many years, he knew everyone on that ship, he now also knew why they had sacrificed themselves and why he would not fail in his final task. The two fighters swooped down on the carrier and released their rockets; the payloads beat a staccato of explosions across the carrier's hull. The biggest bang however, was yet to come.

In the carriers reactor room the Master Chief flexed his legs and jumped, as he soared towards the UNSCS Amber Clad the covenant bomb detonated triggering a chain reaction in the core which claimed the rest of the ship it a series of deep blue explosions.
With the destruction of their command ship the Covenant formation began to fall apart, their fire slackened as the ship captains were suddenly left without a detailed plan to execute or orders to carry out. That confusion was going to cost them.
Taking advantage of the brief respite the UNSC fleet tightened its formation and concentrated their fire on the lead covenant capital ships, seven of them remained in orbit, smaller covenant escorts were being harried by Longswords and frigate squadrons.

A MAC round fired by the destroyer Ragnarok slammed into the lead Covenant vessel, the round blew apart the front of the ship, follow up rounds from her sister ships the Guardian and Beowulf tore deeper into her superstructure, the ship was thrown sideways by the force of the impacts and collided with another attacking cruiser. The loss of both lead ships forced seemed to bring the covenant back to their senses; the attacking fleet picked began a headlong charge towards Earth in an attempt to join the carrier already in the atmosphere.

The Covenant escorts formed a screen in front of the charging cruisers, deliberately absorbing hits from missiles and MAC rounds before they hit the larger ships, corvettes, frigates and even destroyers flashed out of existence, the Covenant losses mounted rapidly.
But still they came.

Lord Hood watched them come, the Cairo was slowly moving out of the battle area as it followed its standard orbit, but the movement was for the best as it would bring Battle Cluster 16 into range, and that could make all the difference, only the Cairo remained of Battle Cluster 17 and she was in bad shape. The sheer bull headedness of his enemy reminded him of part of a poem he had read while studying at the OCS on Reach.

Storm'd at with shot and shell,
Boldly they rode and well,
Into the jaws of Death,
Into the mouth of Hell

Together defence platforms Syracuse, Thermopylae and Alesia formed Battle Cluster 16, unlike Cluster 17 they had known what was coming and were already prepared for battle, as they spun into place they selected their target and fired as one.
Three MAC rounds tore through space, a Covenant frigate attempted to sacrifice itself to save the cruiser behind, but three rounds of that size and power simply ripped straight through her and into the designated target.
Now only five cruisers remained.

Lord Hood watched battle reports flow onto his screen, the holotank on the Cairo's bridge gave him a 3D display of the battle in progress, the cruisers kept coming despite everything he threw at them; he had run out of options that he could stomach.
He now had to use the one he couldn't.

'This is Fleet Admiral Terrance Hood to all ships of Home Fleet. Arm and fire nuclear warheads, at remaining enemy Capital ships, you are to fire with no regard for obstructing ships. Theirs or ours'
The order rang out across the fleet, it fell upon veterans and recruits with all the force of stone hammer, to protect Earth they would have to kill their own, the blast effects of so many overlapping nukes would obliterate the lead human ships as surely as it would annihilate the Covenant, with heavy hearts the orders were followed, in this war human sacrifice was the only real weapon against the Covenant, lives lost in the military were irrelevant if civilians and Earth could be protected by that sacrifice.

Hood tried not to throw up, he was filled with an acidic self loathing he could taste on his tongue and feel eating away at the pit of his stomach.
'This is Commander Chang of the UNSC Ragnarok, I have an alternative to saturation bombardment'
Hood felt some small measure of his strength return; was there a way out of this?
'Go ahead commander'
'I have contacted the captains of the Beowulf, Guardian and the Merrimac, we're gonna ram those bastards, just clear us a path and we'll take 'em out'
Hood did not know how to react, he had desperately hoped for a way to save the lives of his soldiers, granted this would save more of them that the alternative but it didn't make him feel any better.
'Understood Commander, you will have your breakthrough'

'All ships disarm Shiva warheads and prepare for continuous MAC bombardment of fire zone Lima on my mark'

The fleet began to fire round after round into the tiny area of space that had been designated; vaporising any screening escorts in it. Four ships flew through that maelstrom to close with their targets, explosions illuminating their determined bulks.
A plasma torpedo hit the Merrimac and pulse lasers rippled across her back, but still she marched on.
Bombs blew open the side of the Beowulf but still she swept down upon her enemy.
Covenant fighters and drop ships threw themselves at the Ragnarok and the Guardian but they did not slow.

Four bright explosions threw blinding white light into the blackness of space, stinging the eyes of all who could see. The Covenant had been beaten this day above the home of humanity, as the damage reports were made, casualty lists compiled, tears shed and bloodlust abated, Lord Hood stared at the glowing remains that marked the final clash and the glittering lights of life pods launched before that desperate charge, another part of the poem came to him.

Right thro' the line they broke;
Cossack and Russian
Reel'd from the sabre stroke
Shatter'd and sunder'd.
Then they rode back, but not
Not the six hundred.

I hope you enjoyed that, as a fan of science fiction, and in particular military SF I would love to hear from anyone and find out what they think.
Colonel Scipio.

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