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I

The sleek, black aircraft flew overhead forming loose, "finger four" formations.
Silhouetted against the blue-green background the fighters rose, breaking orbit.
In the bleak deadly vacuum they flew silent, blending with the inky blackness.

Inside his Longsword the pilot known as Hawk 49 turned to his co-pilot.
"Anything?"
"Quiet as hell mate…I don't like it"
Hawk frowned inside his helmet and glanced at the digital screen again.
"Spin up the weapons and stay sharp, this could get ugly quick."

Acting on reflex Hawk turned to look at the two empty seats in the cockpit, then stopped, remembering. The UNSC was so stretched that his spare men had been taken away to be retrained as pilots themselves.
"Seraphs incoming."
On the viewscreen Hawk could see a horde of Seraphs emerging from bowels of the Assault carrier, forming a mass of three-fighter v formations.
"About 200 Seraphs sir," the co-pilot said, reading his thoughts.
"Hmm four to one, best odds we've had this week!"
"Hawk Four-Niner to all Swords, prepare full missile spread and split on my mark."

Hawk touched the photo attached to the panel and once again felt the rage that had filled him every time he remembered her. Knife two-six had given him this photo just days before the Battle of Reach, he had really thought…. No matter. It was done. She wasn't coming back.

"Mark."
The fifty Longswords fired off five hundred ASGM-10 missiles in a full spread, increasing the targets for the covenant defences ten-fold. Most of the missiles would probably miss the Seraphs-lacking the time needed to lock on properly-but the main point was to close with that Cruiser.

The Longswords split into combat pairs with perfect timing, and tracer fire started puncturing the darkness as the rotary and ventral guns spat death at the Seraphs.

The fight was far from one sided. Longswords spun away spewing smoke and brief bouts of flame while others exploded silently in the darkness.

A Seraph shot past as Hawk spun the 'sword in a loose corkscrew to dodge incoming fire.
A short burst from the massive 110mm rotary cannons and the shields of the next Seraph was down, and as it turned to fly by the 120mm ventral guns swivelled and blasted it into oblivion.
More fire was streaking past and a plasma burst gouged a chunk from the Titanium A just beside the viewscreen, if it had just been a few more centimetres to the right…

The surviving Longswords burst through the debris and wreckage just as the remaining ASGM-10 missiles entered laser range. Bursts of laser fire began picking them off, and more Seraphs launched from the bays to face the Longswords. But with this the Shipmaster had blundered-the Longswords were now too close, and although accurate the covenant weapons were not accurate enough to fire into the whirling melee that was getting closer and closer to the Cruiser.

More and more inbound fire and then… they were through! Hawk his wingman had a clear line of sight, now the real plan could go ahead.

Two modified Shiva warheads attached backwards in their bays were released and immediately began a full burn to decelerate to near zero speed. Amongst the mass of fire and dogfighting ships they went unnoticed by the carrier as they crawled closer and closer.

Hawk's wingman peeled away with flames billowing from the port engine.
"Just a scratch sir but that's us out of it."
Hawk allowed himself a quick glance at his co-pilot; they both knew that 67 wouldn't make it-yet no fear had shown in the voice as it made the statement.

The Longswords were retreating, seemingly defeated. They left wreckage and bodies behind but their job was done and now the Covenant would realise what was in store.
Under cover of the fighting a Destroyer and a Frigate had moved into position; concealed by the dark side of the moon they had uploaded target coordinates based on tactical data from the Longswords and now they emerged firing as they went.

Three MAC rounds struck the ship; the shield stopped two and most of the third but it burst through the weakened defence to rip through the hull and trigger several secondary explosions. The Carrier turned slowly under the force of the blows but it momentum was quickly countered.
Then came the nukes-remote detonated at a set distance the twin suns erupted just inside the effective radius and melted through part of the hull, exposing the outer decks.
On top of these hammer blows came another one, the Frigate performed a flyby and as it did so black pods flew from its underside and sped towards the ship…..

II

The HEVs slammed into the part-melted decks of the Carrier, punching through weakened floors before coming to a halt.
Frontal plating burst away from the pods and a variety of weapon muzzles were thrust outwards just in case of hostiles. Not that there were any-vacuum had seen to that.
Of course that didn't matter to the blue visored warriors that now emerged, they had fifteen minutes of air-plenty of time to reach a pressurised compartment.

Major Alex Airiman stepped out of his pod and unclipped his weapons. He checked his M6G pistols were still in their holsters. He slung his SRS-99D S2 AM (S) over his shoulder before picking up his silenced MA5K.

Deft hand motions were the signal for the midnight warriors to start moving. Clambering over the debris that cluttered the floor they reached the first door, Airiman offered up silent thanks that the floor still had artificial gravity despite the damage. In zero gravity this would have been hell-even with the thruster packs.

The cracked and dented doors slid open, releasing a torrent of atmosphere that almost swept the Major off his feet, he steadied himself on a chunk of melted walling and swung in to the new corridor rifle raised. It was empty and Airiman signalled so to the warriors at his back, they began to fan out to cover the area. Silently and efficiently they moved into position and covered the next door.

The door behind closed and the squad waited until the atmosphere had returned and the pressure stabilised before moving forward.
Blending with shadow they infiltrated the outer corridors dodging the few patrols with ease, then they came to the first objective. Airiman nodded and a young corporal removed her helmet.
Running a hand through her sweat darkened hair-slightly longer than regulation, a fact the Major overlooked-she retrieved the data chip embedded into her wrist gauntlet and began wiring it up to the Covenant data port.

A door hissed open and four grunts and a brute walked through. The grunts were equipped with full-encased suits and were holding various pieces of machinery while the Brute was outfitted in fully enclosed jump pack armour.
Every single soldier held their breath as the covenant warriors turned to the left and began to proceed down the corridor away from the squad.

The connection completed the ONI 'smart AI' began its hack of the covenant systems, by the time the grunts were quarter way down the corridor it had completed its hack.

"Hack complete, all covenant systems available, and I must say an improvement on my previous record."
The grunts jumped as if stung and the brute whirled on the spot with surprising speed, performed a near comical double take and reached towards his belt.
Four of the humans began raising their guns but they were too slow, three spikes punched into the shoulder of the closest marine and swung him around, pinning him to the wall.
Four silenced BRs sighted and fired. The brute's head vanished in a mist of blood and gore that splattered the dumbstruck grunts. Four more silenced coughs from the BRs and the grunts were history.

"I apologise, I was not aware that I was compromising our safety."
"Can it Aileana."
The major glanced at the stricken marine
"Sir I'll be fine, just cut me free of this damn wall"
He nodded and the corpsman began cutting the wickedly sharp spikes to free the soldier.
Only then did Airiman look at the holographic AI
"Well?"
The AI looked humble and worried
"Don't worry He'll be fine. No permanent harm done."
"Very well, I have disabled the covenant sensors across most of the carrier, and opened up a route that is relatively free of enemy forces, you will still face resistance but better odds than most battles."
"We're Helljumpers, epic odds for normal marines are standard issue for us."

The major hefted his MA5K and walked through the door, his warband at his back as they went forward feet first.

III

As they approached yet another doorway Airiman felt a twinge of fear, it was an ordinary door-no different from the twenty-odd others. Yet he felt uneasy.
The AI said that the corridor ahead was clear and the portable motion tracker confirmed this.
Still, as a precaution he slid a grenade through the door, as it exploded he rolled through the opening and opened up on the re-cloaking figures.

7.62mm rounds slammed into the brutes, overloading their weakened power armour and cutting deep into tough hide.
The brace of brutes fell and the major straightened and began to walk forward, then stopped dead.
A cluster of shimmering shadows stood not five feet ahead of him.
The empty clip of the MA5K clattered onto the gleaming floor, scattering brass casings.

Even as the ODSTs filtered into the corridor, Airiman was moving. He lunged forward and smacked his rifle into the side of the nearest cloaked figure shattering its hardened polymer case. He sidestepped the counterstroke, drawing an M6G as he went.
He jammed the pistol into the brute's jaw and before it could react, pulled the trigger.
The first round failed to penetrate, it exploded against the brute's thick skull, mangling its teeth, the second punched through and exploded inside.

Externally the only effect was a trickle of blood from the brutes left eye, but it fell backwards and did not move.
The second brute received the rest of the clip, sending it reeling.
Airiman dropped the empty pistol and had drawn the other before the first had hit the floor.

The third brute knocked the pistol out of his hand even as it rose and grabbed him by the waist, lifting him easily with one arm up towards its face.
It didn't even flinch as the major drove his combat knife into the furry arm.
It simply drew back its arm and punched hard and fast into his stomach.
Airiman was flung back and smacked into the sidewall. He choked and gasped at the pain and could only watch as his men took on the brutes, he looked on as two ODSTs went down with plasma burns but the fight was over quick enough.

The medic approached cautiously unsure about the state of the CO. Airiman placated him.
"I think I'm ok corpsman, let me just remove this helmet."
While he removed the helmet the corpsman unbuckled the dented chestplate.
"Cough please sir."
"Good no blood, at least you haven't punctured a lung."

The corpsman inserted a nozzle and sprayed biofoam between two ribs.
A joyous coolness replaced the pain and after a short pause to allow the cast to harden the Major was able to stand and re-attach his armour.

He looked at his broken rifle ruefully and unslung his sniper rifle. He would have to give up point to another soldier, he could hardly clear corridors with a weapon such as this.

Still they were almost there. The whole purpose of their desperate mission could be fulfilled.
To kill a leader.

IV

They had arrived.
The chamber opened up ahead, breathtaking in its size and beauty.

And there was the mark.

The marines set up quickly and efficiently, two General Purpose Machine Guns stood guarding the flanks and four men guarded the rear doorway. The remaining ODSTs spread along the balcony to get good firing positions. An array of weaponry, long and short range was presented at the unsuspecting enemy. While the major himself took centre with his sniper rifle. The SRS-99D S2 AM (S) for silent had been modified to fire a larger 20x110mm FSDSR with little flash and sound.
The round should be able to penetrate even with the target's shield.
Lying prone on the floor he slid the rifle into position and aimed at the figure in the centre of the chamber.

The Prophet of Truth was angry, very angry.
This was the one occasion since the beginning of this battle that he had left the Dreadnought. The Covenant needed placating, so he had travelled to a number ships to boost morale. Then he gets to this ship and the tiresome humans had attacked it.
Still the humans had been driven off and repairs were going well.

The humans annoyed Truth greatly. During the previous campaigns they had run or died when ships appeared in orbit but this was different. Of all the planets in the galaxy the one that he couldn't destroy was their damned homeworld.
Although Truth would never admit it, the Covenant was coming off worse in this fight.
Groups of human vessels that had survived the big battles performed hit and run strikes that would cripple a ship before slipping away. Mines appeared where none had been before and events like the strike on this carrier were happening on a frequent basis.

Still most of the surface was in Covenant hands and the excavations were going well. Soon the humans would be left behind along with the meddlesome Sangheili and the accursed Parasite.
Truth sighed and turned to face his audience.

Airiman pulled the trigger.
A fraction of a second too late.

The round hit Truth's headgear as he turned and propelled him to the floor with a wound to the back of his head. Brute honour guards crowded around his wounded form creating an impenetrable barrier of flesh and bone.

The major cursed and took out three brutes with the rest of the clip. His men, as ordered opened up with everything they had.
Clusters of brutes fell dead and grunts, jackals and drones of the audience were also hit but the honour guard barrier grew stronger and began firing back. An alarm sounded and gunfire erupted from the sides and rear as reinforcements arrived.

"Fall back, fall back. All helljumpers fighting retreat."

They ran out through the door, abandoning the dead, and charged the lance of grunts that had been pinning down the four ODSTs of the rearguard.
The lance went down in seconds and the black clad warriors were sprinting.
"Aileana, I'm going to need you to swing the ship around to face the exit co-ordinates."
"Yes sir, and then?"
"Give them hell"

The squad skidded around a corner and shot down another lance without pausing, using the GPMGs from the hip to spray fire.
Then a door opened and a pair of hunters came through.
As one the helljumpers dove out of the way of the fearsome cannons.
"Phillips, Grant field of fire."

The two NCOs unfolded the bases for the GPMGs and opened up on the hunters. The concentrated fire cut through the exposed midriff of one hunter and it toppled but the other still stood and raised its cannon. Phillips disappeared in a blaze of light, as did his partner, the marine that had been injured earlier.
Airiman grimaced and then blew the hunter apart with his rifle.

The airlock was ahead and the ODSTS rushed in gratefully. Last minute checks were made to armour as they all checked for cracks or holes that would lead to fatal decompression.
Then the airlock vented, hurling them into the vacuum and out towards the unseen stealth ship that had been waiting just for this moment.

Using the thruster packs built into their EVA harnesses they angled towards the open rear bay.

They were safe.

Epilogue

The Brigadier-General paced before Airiman aboard the destroyer.
"Thirty Longsword interceptors destroyed."
"Ten ODSTs dead before or during impact."
"Seven ODSTs killed by enemy contact."
"And severe damage to the Frigate as it performed the drop."

The AI finished assessment of Human losses by mentioning that the AI Aileana had also been lost.

Airiman hung his head.

"However."

"Seventy Seraph fighters were destroyed."
"Approximately two hundred Covenant killed by the Shiva strike."
"Fifty Covenant dead at the hands of the boarding party."
"Thirteen Covenant ships and 400 Seraphs destroyed in the ensuing space battle."

Airiman looked up at that and saw that the Brigadier was smiling.
"Get up son, you're not going to be punished, hell if anything you'll be promoted."

"But I failed."

"Failed at your main objective yes, but a victory is a victory, however small."

The Brigadier removed his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose. Pouring a brandy for them both he sat and offered Airiman a Sweet William, which he politely refused.
The Ingenuity in Combat medal gleamed on his chest and Airiman looked at him with slight awe. This man had been a Pelican pilot not too long before and had saved hundreds of lives with his 'Pelican rush' during the Battle of Reach. Later his control of the Orbital defence cluster over the Atlantic coast had held the Covenant at bay while the cities of the former United states were evacuated.

Then the Brigadier told him the full story, Airiman had heard that more had happened after he left but had not known exactly what happened.

"ONI don't like it but that AI saved your skin, by leaving it behind you caused quite a commotion."
"Your AI took over control of the whole ship and turned it against the rest of the fleet."
"When we saw what was happening we sent everything we had to help and together we kicked a lot of ass up there."
"Truth managed to escape however and the ship was destroyed when it took to much damaged."
"Still your actions have made our ultimate victory a lot easier."
"Here."

He pulled out two cases, and opened them.
Inside of one was a medal just like the one pinned to the Brigadier, and the other held the badges of a Colonel.

"We're proud to have you, Colonel."

The now colonel Airiman no longer felt hollow but instead he looked up with new pride.
He walked out of the door.
They still had to finish the fight.

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