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UNSC First Contact (2/2)
Posted By: Mark Lieberg<malieberg@msn.com>
Date: 18 March 2005, 7:52 AM
Read/Post Comments
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AN: Here's the Second Part..yeah I know right? Why would he post two at the same time? Would they read it? Would they Like it? Well I just hope you enjoy it. Comments are welcome at my email, and at the comment section thanks FF Readers.
****
0934 Hours, October 10, 2552 (Military Calendar)
UNSC First Contact, Patrol in the Wearen System,
Away from Wearen IV, RV towards Rally Point Alpha,
Sol System, Earth.
The First Contact, a long, invincible, legendary Destroyer darted through space among the heavens. Its beauty was spectacular; it was almost a dream as the Class-C Destroyer was viewed among the stars. She was the Sister Ship to the Iroquois, and Younger Sister to the Leviathan that Admiral Michael Stanforth commanded during the attack of Sigma Octanus IV. Its huge Magnetic Acceleration Cannon that was mounted in the fore, and after parts of the ship were as advance as they could get to. Firing a round of three burst per salvo, it was one of the twenty toughest ships to survive in combat against the Covenant.
She, the First Contact, had been in service a decade ago, defending the Inner Colonies with the rest of the Fleet. Her Captain, Captain Darrel Shavings had been in command of the First Contact since he got promoted before the attack of Sigma Octanus Four. He was thirty-six, and near six feet four inches. The Bridge of the First Contact was of circular design, with a spinning axis to keep it gravitational to one gee, standard Earth Gravity. It made one Bridge Officer sick to her stomach, so everyone she had to take a sickness pill to keep her combat ready. She was Lieutenant Sarah Zinger. He blonde hair, and green eyes wandered the Bridge as she was stationed at Ops.
Across from her position at a one hundred degree angle was Lieutenant Mathew Harold. He had been with the Captain sine he was Commander of the Defiance. He got transferred with him, one reason was that he and the Captain were closely related, and another was simply because, his record was the best that Darrel could find as Weapons Officer for a beauty like the First Contact. His Dark Brown hair, and strong face made it hard to tell what mood he was in.
At Navigations, a Lieutenant Junior Grade Samuel Vancouver, was Russian. Born straight from Moscow, and joined the UNSC at the age of seventeen. He was twenty-three now. Seven years after he graduated from OCS. He could Navigate threw an asteroid field with out the help of a Computer AI, which was especially rare for cases of Plasma attacks from Covenant Carriers. The Bridge Officers relied on him, to get them out of hasty situations.
Communications was positioned by a new Bridge member; Ensign Collin Norman. He was transferred to the First Contact a week ago. He was just getting to know the Senior Officers after he got transferred. The last Communications Officer got promoted to Commander after the victory at Sigma Octanus Four, and was offered to take command of the America. He was in his twenties, with his Jet Black Hair, and pressed Navy Uniform, his eyes were black, making him look scary at some situations.
The First Contact, Navigated by the Junior Lieutenant Samuel Vancouver kept the course straight. They were ordered to circle the system, and protect Wearen IV from the Covenant. But these past twelve days had been uneventful as the UNSC lost Inner Colonies by the Covenant. Captain Darrel had strict order to stay in the Wearen System due to some ONI requests, every nerve in the Officers body wanted to head into battle to help the Fleet, but they were always declined to go into battle.
As the Bridge Officers monitored their stations, checking, and rechecking key systems for malfunctions, they just sat there in their chairs waiting for some action. Considering their last battle was at Virginia VII, which was unpleasant due to the Captains capture, and interrogation process by the Covenant. They couldn't imagine what the Captain had to deal with before help arrived to rescue him.
The Door that was between the elevator and the Main Bridge was closed, but then suddenly opened as Captain Darrel stepped forward. He stood still, waiting for the proper announcement. "Captain on Deck!" barked Lieutenant Sarah Zinger as she stood up knocking the chair backwards into the wall saluting her Captain. She had always been surprised to see the Captain, she always thought of him as a legendary hero to survive at Virginia VII, but that wasn't a story to be told by Darrel. Everyone on the Bridge looked at the Captain for a split second and rose saluting. Darrell raised his hand, and saluted back.
"Back to your post." Everyone sat down again, including Darrel as he walked to his center seat of the entertainment. The huge view screen that was in front of them, showed a planet, and some stars. Darrel sat in his chair, and checked his watch. It was early in the morning, around nine-thirty. He still was confused by why he had dreamt what he had dreamt, and he wasn't sure telling his Officers about it was the right choice. However, one asked.
"Captain, last night when I was informed that you were in the Medical Bay, what happened?" Harold asked as he looked at Darrel. The Captain sighed, and turned his head towards the Weapons station. Now, he had to tell them.
"Last night, was just, a mishap." The Captain lied, as he knew Reagan was watching, careful not to interrupt. "When I woke up early in the morning, I tripped, and hit my head on the table by the door. Reagan quickly found me, and called for the Doctor to get me back up to my feet. Is that all Lieutenant?" Darrel asked as Reagan nodded sideways in a disapproving way. He didn't like the Captain lying, but he was the commanding officer of the First Contact, and they had to obey him.
"Aye Sir." Harold said as he looked back towards his console, and checked the weapons again, and again. He knew something was wrong, but he had to go to the Doctor on his own time when the Captain wasn't around. Sarah checked her systems, as the First Contact continued in space. Thirty minutes passed by the watch, and nothing. There was nothing in the system but dust, and planets with their moons. Then the unbelievable happened.
Darrel looked at the view screen as the Elite, the Black Armored Elite that was shot by the Captain appeared behind him, with Blood stained on its armor, and a Plasma Rifle in one hand. It was breathing again and again. The Captain started to feel another chill down his spleen as he turned around. He saw the beast, and jumped out of his chair grabbing his side arm, he pulled the trigger. The bullet went threw the beast but it didn't fall. The Captain was dumbstruck as the rest of the Officers stared at Darrel confused, and quickly turning to see what he was looking at. He had just shot a Private that was passing by. The young officer clenched his chest, and saw the red blood dripping out of his body.
Ensign Collin quickly tabbed a button, and before he could send the transmission, Reagan had already called for the Doctor to come up. The elevator door opened and Steven, and Walter ran towards the fallen Private. The Captain still imagined the Private as an Elite, and yelled, "Dump him in Space!" The Lieutenants, the Doctor, the two Marines, and Ensign Collin looked at the Captain, horrified. They didn't know what had come up to him.
"Sir?" Mathew asked as Darrel looked at him, there was another Elite standing next to the Lieutenant, this one had white armor, but there was red blood stained on some parts. He pulled his side arm again, and fired. The Control panel behind the Lieutenant burst to flames as Mathew ran for the fire extinguisher. Daniel knew what was happening. So he instructed the two Marines to head to the Medical Bay, and drop off the Private and fix him, while he grabbed the Captain.
"Get off of me Daniel! The Elite is still here! Its still here!" Darrel barked as he pulled the trigger again. Another console exploded and caught on fire. Mathew quickly ran towards the fire, and held the trigger to put the fire out. Daniel smacked the Captains hand and Sarah ran towards Daniel to help him get him to the Medical Bay. Darrel kept on moving about. Hitting the Doctor and the Lieutenant in the face, he kicked the Doctor. Darrel thought he saw more Elites, he was becoming to get angry. He grabbed the Submachine Gun on the weapon rack, and fired at the View Screen. As each of the bullets left the nozzle, another hole was formed in the View screen, damaging the device severely.
"Sarah, hold him still!" She did, as she kicked the Captain down as he tried to hit her, and held him down with both of her arms. The Doctor ran over, and stuck a needle in his arm. He fell asleep, and the Doctor grabbed him, and left the Bridge. Sarah turned around, seeing the damage their Captain had done, and the casualty he had caused with the Private. They would be lucky if the Private would even survive.
"What do you think is wrong with him?" Collin asked as he looked at the other Lieutenants on the bridge. Even though he was the low ranking officer, he was still family of this ship. His Dark eyes looked at each of the Officers faces as Sarah, and Samuel shrugged. Mathew looked at Collin, and then remembered Reagan. He knew the AI had been monitoring and recording the incident. He looked up and stared.
Reagan saw the Lieutenants face as Mathew said, "Reagan." The Holo image of the Green AI with its Dark Suit appeared. He wore his glasses above him nose and looked at the Lieutenant. Mathew saw the figure and the rest walked towards it.
"Yes Lieutenant Harold? I suspect you would like to know what's wrong with the Captain?" Sat on the Navigation seat, Lieutenant Vancouver stood up, and walked to the AI. As he reached the rest of the group, and placed his hands on the railing, and leaned forward.
"Yes Reagan...we would very much like to hear your thoughts on what's wrong with the Captain." He spoke with his Russian accent. The AI lit quickly, and dimmed. He turned and looked at each of the bridge crewmembers. He knew this could be bad, but they had authorization to get the information. So he kindly asked.
"If I tell you, would I get into any trouble?"
"No." Sarah quickly replied next as she looked at Reagan. He was unusually short for an AI's standard size. Normally they would be five inches in height on the holo-tank, but Reagan was three inches.
"Very well. The Captain is becoming delusional." With that first sentence the whole command staff listened closely. Reagan continued, "He, from this point on, will have medical attention for his thoughts. He, after brief periods of time, sees an Elite from the interrogation room on Virginia VII. Daniels and I don't know why, but we are looking into it." This gave more questions into the Lieutenants as they nodded. Reagan looked at each of them until the Doctor called for him. "If you will excuse me Lieutenant, I need to go talk to Daniels."
"Go ahead," Mathew said as he looked at each other's face while he paused to think. Reagan suddenly disappeared out of thin air as he headed to the Medical Bay. Mathew walked back to his station, as the rest did the same. They were quiet, but Sarah beat them from speaking first.
"When do you think the Captains going to become...un-delusional?" She pondered herself the same question, remembering the attack on Virginia VII, how they had one that battle, but lost many people. Over Three Million people, suffered from the Covenant that day. She knew she would regret not thinking it was a victory. But it was a victory. She looked at Mathew, and then at Samuel. His Russian face seemed unreadable as she looked at the view screen. It still had bullet holes in it, but would get replaced once they headed to a Space Dock.
"The Doctor's an expert. He'll take care of it." Mathew responded as he tapped a few buttons to make sure the weapons were stable, he then turned his head and looked at Collin as he sat there chewing gum he had unwrapped after the Captain left the bridge. "Lieutenant Vancouver, plot a course for an inbound trajectory to Wearen IV's Space Docks," He paused to look at Ensign Collin, "Ensign, send a transmission for replacement parts for a View Screen and other materials to the Wearen Docks. Sarah, engine status?"
Sarah waited as she checked the diagnostics, reports came from engineering every then minutes. She found the diagnostics, and spoke, "Engineering reports One Hundred percent power, Engine Status Operable." She looked back as her station as she just sat there, thinking about what to do once she got to Wearen Four. Mathew nodded as Samuel plotted a course to the Wearen Docks, Collin sent out a transmission to Wearen Docks also and also got a disappointing, and horrifying feedback.
Collin looked at Mathew, Sarah, and then Samuel. His eyes enlarged scared whether his family would live or die. "Lieutenant?" A full three seconds went by as the Bridge rotated continuously creating the artificial gravity needed to walk or run.
"What is it Collins?" Mathew asked as he checked his weapons station again and again trying to waste time. Collins read, and reread the transmission from the Wearen Docks.
"Earth is under attack." Just those words, made Mathew more scared. A delusional Captain, and their own Home Planet was attacked. Mathew paused to think of what could have happened. Sarah sat disappointed, worrying about her Sister in the Service. She hoped she was doing ok. Samuel didn't mind, his family was somewhere else, hopefully safe away from the Covenant for another ten years he was cold hearted.
Mathew stood up, and walked to Collins station. As he reached there, Collins moved over as the Lieutenant leaned forward reading the transmission.
United Nations Space Command Alpha Priority Transmission
02874S-74
Encryption Code: Red
Public Key: file/Charley-Delta-Four/
From: Admiral Bernie Wallace, Fleet Admiral of Horizon Three, Commanding Officer, UNSC Invincible, Wearen Docks, Wearen IV/ UNSC Defense Fleet Sector Five Commander/ (UNSC Service Number: 62481-10984-ABW)
To: ALL UNSC warships and PERSONNEL in the WEAREN, ILLUST, RISTER, and SATANUS system
Subject: IMMEDIATE RECALL
Classification: Classified (BGX Directive)
/start file/
Covenant presence detected on Earth System's Edge
coordinates 151 relative.
All UNSC warships are hereby ordered to cease all activities, and regroup at Rally Point Alpha at best speed.
ALL SHIPS are to enact the Cole Protocol immediately before entering the Sol System. God Speed.
/end file/
"Samuel, change course trajectory towards heading Sol System, enter slipspace in two minutes." Mathew ordered the Russian as Vancouver quickly changed course, and headed the opposite direction. Mathew sat at the Captains chair as he looked at Sarah. Her blond hair, which was tightly held by a rubber band, held as the ship spun quickly, with the crafty handwork of Samuel Vancouver, the Russian made a successful one hundred and eighty degree spin on its axis. Mathew ignored the ships movement and yelled to Sarah. Mathew almost tripped as he walked to the Captains chair.
"Sarah, inform engineering to head into slipspace in two minutes minus ten seconds." Sarah quickly did so as she grabbed the railing as the ship suddenly boosted faster. Mathew was stunned to see the stars go by so quickly, and the disappearance of Wearen IV. The Destroyer was close now, to enter into slipspace in a matter of seconds. "This is Lieutenant Mathew Harold. All hands hold on to something, this is going to be bumpy."
With those last few words, the ship was momentarily pushed, and then with a sudden jolt, was pushed into slipspace. The Stars vanished before them, and the ship speed across space. Mathew held on as he felt him self shake on the chair. The ship Fusion Reactor was a new design, the third to get the new modification. Mathew managed to open his mouth to speak to Sarah. "What's our ETA to the Sol System!"
The Chair shook more as they speed across space; it was certainly a bumpy ride. "ETA is ten minutes, minute or plus three." Sarah replied as she tightened her belt across her stomach so she didn't shake that much. She saw Samuel smiling as he laid his hands behind him back. She let out a tiny smile, and then looked back at her station board. "Sir! Fusion Reactor is at Ninety-Five percent and going up in a two-minute rate. Once it reaches One Hundred, we should be there before our Estimated Time Arrival!"
"Ok! Collins! How's it holding?" Mathew yelled to the Ensign as he saw him grab hold of something to stay still. The ship was really bumpy this time. The Ensign checked Communications on all band frequencies.
"Sir! Earth's Magnetic Acceleration Cannon Stations are holding the Covenant. But they are just outside the kill zone. There's a big fight breaking out, fifteen Covenant ships. Two of them are Carriers, and one of them has a Prophet inside of it!" This surprised both Mathew and Collins. As he checked his clock, he noticed four minutes just passed by. The Reactor would be near Ninety-Seven Percent. He just hoped One hundred percent wasn't as rough as this.
Another six minutes passed, and they were still away from Earth. Sarah monitored her station as she read reports coming in from Engineering. "Sir, Reactor at One Hundred percents. Hold on to your hats!" The Ship suddenly gave a loud noise, and jumped again, this time, the ship never shook; it was silent almost as if nothing happened. "I guess these Engines are very popular now."
"Don't give your hopes up, this ship may not last the Battle." Mathew said gladly not having to yell over the noise "Contact the Doctor Sarah, and ask him about the status of the Captain."
"Aye sir." The Lieutenant quickly phoned in to the Doctor and got a report. "Sir, Daniels reports that the Captains fine, and will be combat read with in five minutes, but suggest that you take command until the fights over, incase his imaginary dreams come back during his reality."
Mathew nodded as he looked at his own screen that was on the Captains chair. They were still in slipspace, either minutes or seconds away from─
"Sir! Exiting out of Slipspace, and regrouping at Rally Point Alpha." Samuel said as he tapped a button and the ship stopped, resuming its normal speed and heading. The Destroyer readied its weapons as Mathew unlocked all safeties from the weapons, and warmed the MAC. As the miniature view screens that were mounted on each of their stations showed the Fleet engaging the Covenant, the elevator doors opened. Captain Darrel Shavings entered and he walked to his chair.
"Thank you Lieutenant for keeping the ship at combat readiness. Sarah, monitor both Covenant and UNSC channels. Samuel, take us to Rally Point Alpha ASAP. Mathew, warm everything on this ship that can fight. Contact the Marines, they might need to get to the MAC's before Dropships start coming in from inbound trajectories." Darrel said as Mathew got up and sat at his station doing as the Captain ordered.
Collin quickly asked the Captain, "Sir? Are you alright?" This question made the Captain pause. The Ensign thought he was being curious, but found out it was a dumb question.
"Well son, I'm here ain't I? So how about we chit chat later and help our species win this battle?" The Ensign took a few seconds after checking for any orders incoming from HighCom. None.
"Aye Sir." Collin said as he continued to watch the battle, He saw bright light flicker through space as ships exploded. Lieutenant Zinger checked her station, and got reports that five UNSC Warships were just destroyed, but multiple pulse lasers from Covenant Seraph Fighters.
"Sir, we got an incoming transmission from Fleet Admiral Hood sir, on your screen now." Collins reported as he sent the feed to the Captains chair monitor. The figure or a fifty-year-old man, wearing a white uniform with medals covering his chest stood looking at Darrel.
"Admiral?" Darrel asked as the First Contact moved in closer to battle. They started to feel a little shake as they went past debris from destroyed UNSC Warships.
"Captain, move your ship towards that Cruiser, here." A Navigation marker appeared on Samuel Vancouver's screen, it was a green triangle. "Ten other ships are locking on to that target now with our MAC gun. Cortana will give off a countdown timer for ten seconds, then we are going to blow that Covenant ship out of here." Darrel understood the order, and the Admiral disconnected the channel. The Captain bit his lower lip as he waited for his Lieutenant to speak to him.
"Sir, I got a set of countdown timers, and a firing solution for our MAC, and archer missiles. Sending firing solution to Lieutenant Harold's station." Vancouver reported as Mathew acknowledged the information. A Countdown timer appeared, five seconds left. The First Contacts long sleek body moved in to position ready to fire her weapons. Nine other UNSC ships were positions in an arc shape formation targeting the Cruiser, with the MAC gun behind them, the Covenant ship would be nothing but molten pieces of metal.
Four seconds.
Darrel felt heat around him, he saw his other bridge officers watching, staring at their monitors waiting for the countdown timer to reach zero.
Two seconds.
It was time; Mathew quickly tapped the firing solution, and fired. The MAC gun poured three successive shots into the Covenant Cruiser. The Covenants long huge; tear drop shaped hull was now getting hit with everything the ten UNSC Warships could give it. Their shields were holding the Archer missiles for a few seconds, until a shroud of gold and red dust appeared as it erupted from the Covenants shields. As the dust glittered away, Covenant fighters flew out their launch bays and attacked the Frigates in position. Their point-defense turrets quickly peppered them to dust as another successful salvo from the Cairo Station penetrated the Cruisers Shields.
Another firing solution fired as over a dozen MAC rounds, over five hundred Archer pods and one Shiva Nuclear Warhead detonated. The Missiles created hull breaches along the Cruisers hull, the MAC's tore huger ones after that. But the Shiva Warhead cleaned up the rest. The tiny missile detonated, creating a short ball of fire, burning, and destroying the Cruisers hull. The Ship flickered out of existence, and Fighters appeared out of nowhere. The ten UNSC Warships spread out attacking them.
Darrel sat in his chair, thankful that the Firing Solution worked, destroying a Covenant Cruiser was hard work for a bunch of Frigates, but with the help, they destroyed one of the twelve Covenant Ships attacking Earth. Mathew rechecked the MAC status, and the Archer Pods. "Sir! We got twenty-two Salvos left from the MAC gun. Archer pods B1 through G2 are loaded and ready!" Darrel nodded as Mathew launched two pods at a Seraph firing pulse lasers at a frigates hull. It was too late, the plasma already created a hole threw the ships hull structure.
It hit the ships Reactor, and exploded, they lost another ship. Darrel looked around, and looked at the screen. There were hundreds of Fighters, and Dropships heading towards the surface of the planet. They were trying to attack while the Ship were a diversion. Darrel knew what he had to do. "Lieutenant Vancouver, break off the attack. Mathew, target any Fighter, and Dropships in an inbound trajectory towards the Earth's Surface. Make sure they get the warm welcome." Mathew nodded and tapped the fire button. Sixty missiles targeted twenty ships. They exploded with out hesitation as more flew towards the surface.
The First Contact moved forward rapidly trying to pick all of them off. The Ships point-defense systems fired as Reagan appeared on the Captains Chair. "Sir, three MAC Stations have been destroyed, and over twenty UNSC warships are gone. Three Covenant Frigates, and one Cruiser destroyed. HighCom has ordered us to reach the Planets Surface to help the In Amber Clad rid New Mombassa in Kenya of Covenant Ground troops." The AI spoke as the Captain looked at Collin, he nodded.
"Thank you Reagan, Samuel, change course heading zero degrees latitude, forty degree longitude. Make at best speed. Sarah, tell the Chief to ready his men, they are heading to the surface." Darrel ordered as she did so.
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