The Hybrid a FanFic by Tehface
"Look for the signs, the keepers of the flame. They will lead you to war, and perhaps, to victory."
Phew! It's been a long time! Sorry for the short part and not so good quality. I'm trying to transition back into the swing of it. Enjoy!
Part Fifteen- Check Mate
Aboard UNSC Destroyer 'No Regret'
"I can't believe it," York breathed, eyes locked onto the small holographic depicting another Halo.
"Nor can I..." the Arbiter sighed, mandibles clicking as if impatient.
The Captain, Lieutenant, Buck, Mark, Vince, and the Elites, were seated around a circular table, where an image of Installation 01 glowed in the center.
"The Loyalists are more organized than we thought," Buck said, frowning.
"Perhaps, it is a trick." Rtas offered hopefully.
No one spoke. A beetle scurried across the sleek floors, and was promptly stomped on by Vince.
"But why else would they spare Tribute?" the normally silent Mark questioned, looking around at his peers.
"Yeah, they've burned all the other human colonies." Vince chimed in. "They don't just land on them without good reason."
York looked up, hand on chin.
"And they hardly even touched the population areas." York said, eyes widening. "In fact, the Covenant force at the base was the largest seen on the planet so far."
"It's almost like they're in a hurry or somethin'..." Lieutenant Hardings pointed out.
Turning to York, he said, "We've got to contact HIGHCOM. Tell 'em that-"
A loud voice blared over the room speakers, interrupting the Lieutenant.
"Captain, we've got four hostile ships emerging from Slipspace over the equator. Two are headed down towards Casbah, the others are prepared to engage." Taking a breath the flustered voice spoke once more, "Orders, Ma'am?"
York shot a glance at Mark, who, along with Vince, Buck and the Arbiter, we're already standing.
"Get to your pods, be ready to drop in five!" Then, turning to the Lieutenant, she said, "Get all available soldiers to Casbah stat! Take a Pelican down and coordinate the offense!"
Mark and company reached the Pod bay in record time, and Vince slumped down in a chair.
"And they say I'm pushy."
Buck grinned and shook his head.
******************************
Still in the meeting room, Anna turned towards Rtas.
"You can try and head back to your ship-" She began.
Suddenly, the ship swayed drunkenly and red sirens began to blare.
"But you'd probably be better off commanding from our bridge."
They ran towards the control room of the ship, passing by frantic soldiers and technicians moving around.
Bursting into the bridge, York saw it's occupants rushing about in a daze.
"Status report!" She demanded, eying the enemy ships through the ships cameras.
Shane McMillon, her Navigation's Lieutenant responded, keeping his eyes on the terminal in front of him.
"The two ships are closing in fast Captain! The other two are about to enter Tribute's atmosphere."
Meanwhile, Rtas was commanding his own ship using a COM Uplink from another computer terminal.
"Captain we have lock on the Covenant cruiser." the Weapons Lieutenant, Lt. Parks, said.
"Target shield stress points and fire torpedoes 1 through 25." York commanded, nervously pacing the deck.
'No Regrets' is a top of the line cruiser.
Built as a collaboration project to strengthen Human-Sangheili relations, the ship featured several updated systems that improved combat effectiveness.
An increase in the amount of torpedo clusters the ship carried, (about 250) because engineers discovered a way to reduce the size of the projectile but enhance volatility.
Shields were improved by nearly 3 times their original strength.
And perhaps most important, is the decrease in ship size. Newer ships keep getting smaller and smaller. Still big, of course, but they cut around the corners. More slender, and less like Legos.
The torpedoes launched from the ship and raced towards the Covenant cruiser, catching the disoriented ship by surprise.
The projectiles sparked against the enemy vessel, it's bright purple shields flaring briefly, then fading.
"They've upgraded too," said York grumpily.
Meanwhile, Rtas was ordering his ship to attack the Battlecruiser that was circling around No Regret.
"Divert non-essential power to the PGP generators, fire our torpedoes!" the Fleet Admiral barked, fist clenched.
The Plasma Guided Projectile was the Covenant equivalent to the UNSC MAC blast that tears through enemy hulls. Sangheili leaders thought it best that they had a "super weapon" on board as well.
A concentration of plasma is charged up to critical levels, which when fired at high speeds, melts through anything.
Rtas' ship, Vadam , named after the province on their homeworld, abruptly turned and unleashed and barrage of plasma torpedoes on the Battlecruiser.
Each impact shook the Loyalist ship like an earthquake. It's shields quickly failed.
"Belay the PGP firing." Rtas added quickly, "There is no need to waste resources."
The barrage from the Vadam continued until the Covenant ship violently gave in on itself and exploded.
"Check." Rtas said triumphantly and glanced at York.
"...and Mate." she agreed.
Behind her, through the window, the cruiser that No Regret attacked was now a smoldering heap of metal.
The two remaining ships were already hovering over the planet, beginning deployment.
"Prepare a MAC round," York ordered, eyes on the two ships.
"We can't stop the Covenant already on the ground...
But we can sure as hell stop the reinforcements."
[Edited on 02.02.2010 8:45 PM PST]