- MaxRealflugel
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- Elder Mythic Member
Part 23
On board the Sangheili flagship, The Shadow of Intent
"Status report," ordered Thel. His time as the Arbiter was destined to be short and his honour to be reclaimed upon his death, but Thel knew, deep down, that he had done more than enough to regain his dented pride. But in hindsight the original cause of his demotion was down to the Spartan.
The destruction of the first ring had filled him with doubt and shame, but now he felt an enormous sense of pride. Being defeated by a lone Spartan in combat was no longer something that would fill his heart with shame; instead he thought it was probably his greatest achievement. If Thel had succeeded in his role as the fleet master, then the Spartan would be just an echo of humanities' hope and they would all be doomed against an enemy of unspeakable power.
"All ships report ready. Our cruisers have taken up their positions on the flank, all spirit, phantom and seraph craft have been positioned to cover the human orbital stations," Rtas reported.
The fleet would do what it could to inflict as much damage as possible, but the outlook was bleak. His main responsibility should be the protection of the human ships. For once it would be down to them to save what was left of the Covenant.
"Ensure the capital ships remain clear of each other. I do not want the destruction of one vessel to doom us all."
"What of the human ships, Arbiter?"
Thel pondered his options, but there were few. Even so, there was always a path to victory, he thought, even if it came from a suicidal engagement. He began to gain a new sense of understanding. This must have been what it was like for the humans when they fought their more advanced Covenant counterparts. "Position the shielded human ships to our rear, and the unshielded vessels behind them. They must be given the chance to fire."
"Understood, Arbiter," Rtas replied.
Thel looked on as the fleet finished moving into position, each of them displayed on the command deck as a series of floating holograms. The human ships moved, almost reluctantly, to the rear of the main fleet, protected by a wall of Covenant capital ships. Thel hoped to use the human ships in rapid pop-up attacks, but there was no telling as to how quickly the enemy ships would adapt.
He had to be flexible and inventive.
Forerunner chamber, Earth
John raced through the caves, followed by the rest of the Spartans. The Forerunners had chosen to remain in the chamber to ready their fleet and prepare the defences. John hoped that they could stall the attack on Earth, giving the Forerunners the chance to fight back.
John quickly cleared the mouth of the cave, only to be dazzled by the morning sun.
His faceplate immediately polarized to compensate.
Beyond the mouth of the cave were almost three full companies of marines, all of them escorted by warthogs and Scorpions. At the forefront of the formation was the familiar sight of Lord Hood, accompanied by Dr. Halsey.
Hood rushed over to meet with the emerging Spartans. "What did you find, chief?"
John stopped in front of Hood. "Forerunners and lots of them. They have a chamber beneath the cave system along with their own personal armada. But unfortunately they have more pressing concerns."
"I heard," Hood dropped his head. "The Arbiter is organising the fleet, but I'll need you and the other Spartans up there as well. If the enemy attempts a boarding we'll need everything we have to stop them."
"What about me?" asked Cortana.
"You'll be joining me on the Cairo. I need that lightning fast brain of yours to coordinate the pattern of fire."
"Just like old times," she replied.
"Chief, you and the rest of the Spartan II's head up to the Shadow of Intent; assist the Arbiter in any way you can, Dr. Halsey will be going with you."
"I need to stay here. I need to study the technology that we have long been searching for," Catherine protested.
"An order is an order Doctor," Hood replied sharply.
"What about us?" Ash said. "What about us 3's."
"General Moore will update you, but you'll be helping to defend the cave entrance, just in case our new enemy decides to pay us a visit down here."
Ash looked disappointed. He wanted to be with the rest of the Spartans.
John walked over and placed his hand on Ash's shoulder. "I'll be counting on you down here Ash. If the Scourge break through the fleet they'll be heading straight for here. I need you to stop them."
Ash looked up and nodded. "Don't worry, John. We'll stop them."
"Pelicans inbound for EVAC, stand by!" Voiced a marine.
John looked up to see two Pelicans swooping down and along the valley. They were both escorted by a pair of Longswords.
Cortana's voice popped into John's head. "Good luck Chief."
"And you," he replied.
"Give'em hell, Chief," said Hood, grabbing a rifle.
John nodded. "Look after her."
"Don't worry; she'll see us all through."
John wanted to keep up with the goodbyes, but had his orders again. He bounded off with the rest of the Spartan II's and Doctor Halsey into one of the waiting pelicans. Hood and a handful of naval staff headed for the other.
John strapped himself in before they blasted into the sky, heading for the fleet.
The Shadow of Intent
"Human drop ship in-bound Arbiter. It carries Spartans," Rtas reported.
"Good. Get them on-board and up to the bridge as quickly as possible."
Suddenly, an alarm echoed throughout the bridge.
Rtas looked up, frustration written across his weathered face. "The enemy fleet is advancing. They have adopted an arrow-head formation with a single vessel further out in frontacting as a vanguard."
"They wish to test our firepower, to see if we are a threat," Thel concluded.
"The lead vessel is within range!"
"Send in the cruisers. I do not want them to see the effectiveness of the human weapons until they are all in range."
Rtas conveyed Thel's orders to the leading phalanx of cruisers. Eight of the glistening vessels immediately set off towards the isolated Scourge ship, weapons firing.
The alien vessel simply stopped, absorbing the raining plasma fire before replying with a storm of energy.
The lead cruiser was hit square in the face before the alien ship fire again, destroying the cruiser. The second and third were hit with the dissipating energy and careered of course. Powerless and adrift. They were quickly finished off with a scything lance of green light.
The remaining cruisers adopted a scattered line formation before returning fire. Plasma torpedoes and plasma cannons did their best to fell their foe, but the ship simply absorbed the torrent of fire, its hull rippling in the cascading light of battle.
"Shall I order the humans to fire?"
"No, Rtas. I must see with my own eyes if we can defeat them."
"Our weapons are having no effect, Arbiter."
Thel could see the obvious, but he also understood Rtas' frustration. The might of Covenant weaponry, that had caused the humans so much misery and grief in the past, was now all but redundant.
"Order all remaining cruisers to concentrate their fire on the alien vessel."
Rtas anticipated his order and sent in the remaining cruisers. Twenty-seven vessels rushed forward until they were almost on top of the alien ship. Then they fired.
Thel watched closely as they peppered the ship with everything they had.
Then he saw it. A small plume of ionized gas escaping from the rear of the enemy ship.
"Order the cruisers to fire again, but tell the Relentless Pursuit to fire on the escaping gas."
[Edited on 03.25.2009 8:27 AM PDT]