User:RelentlessRecusant/Halo Wars/Archive 2

Divine Wrath, Fleet of Sancrosanct Requiem Installation 03

As the Divine Wrath pivoted with a flare of plasma engines and white fire, Queta sneered at the accelerating UNSC battlefleet in their engine wash. It was unexpected that the human commander had thought of that strategem, but his counterpart was to find himself soon in a bloody predicament. As the flagship and its two escorts, the Absolved and the Sanctified Hand, broke their rigid formation, scattering to vectors prependicular to the Ring to prevent the oft-missed human metal "MAC" projectiles from impacting the sacred object in the event of combat, the Fleet Master said insouciantly, as if not ordering the utter destruction of thousands of enemy lives, "Fire Control, coordinate firing solutions with the escorts and decimate their leading line."

No grief or hesistation beared down upon his soul - the enemy was vermin, not worthy of existance. He was glorified in their demise. The calmness of the bridge juxtaposed with the fear that was insidiously weaving into the hearts of the UNSC crews...and that dismay peaked with the velocity of an exponential curve as five fiery bolts of ethereal energy, plasma torpedoes, broke from the prows of the Covenant fleet.

It was rather pathetic in retrospect. The UNSC ships had no time to commence the most elementary and rudimentary of evasive manuevers - five destroyers were lit afire and vaporized, their bows seeming to devour the torpedoes with great hungerness.

The UNSC fleet reciprocated fire...

 -49 Proximal Secant  20:59, 16 December 2006 (UTC)

There was no immediate response from the Erwin Rommel, even though they had been the ones to hail the Hesperus. So Graves, witnessing the situation at hand, decided to assume a role of singular leadership, as he was so ready and used to as of late. "All hands, assume Stage-Five Battle Conditions! All available pilots and marine personell report to the hanger bays immediately... All available pilots and marine personnel, report to the hangar bays armed and ready for ground deployment!" Graves said over the speaker system, which echoed through the cargo bay the words that Adrian had so proudly adressed literally seconds before. The only reason that Graves was now relaying the message, was because the situation had changed. Not only were they now in battle, they were being attacked. He watched as five of the UNSC Destroyers were set aflame by the Covenant plasma fire. His pearly white teeh gritted together, as the statuesque young man resumed his comm. channel with Adrian.

"Adrian, report to the nearest holo-tank and make contact with Helen. Also, make sure that thing... Whatever the Covenant had called it... Is in a safe place. Once they learn we have that, theres no doubt they'll come after our ship," Graves muttered to Adrian, who grunted in affirmation. He turned, and began walking towards a blue, pillar-like holo-tank in the corner of the room.

"Bring the MAC-Cannon online, divert 62% of the ships auxillary power to the charging system, and release hell on those alien bastards..." Graves growled out, throwing his right arm to the side in a dramatic notion which seemed to invigorate his piloting officers. O'Shay and Peterson nodded in approval, and then began to type and move aroung the control panel as they brought the ship to battle status.

"Diverting power... MAC-Gun has a full charge sir! Once we start firing, she'll be able to rattle off at least two more shells before needing the full alotted time to re-charge!" O'Shay said with enthusiasm in his voice, staring straight ahead at his panelling whilst Peterson began release the emergency thrusters on the top of the ship, propelling the Hesperus forward through space for a more optimal 'sniper' shot at their enemies.

Adrian placed his gauntleted right hand on the blue circle of the holo-tank, which was almost immediately enshrouded in a golden circle of static. "Oh well, it's just as cramped in here as I remember," the voice of Helen sounded within Adrian's head, almost immediately. The rush of having her within the suit, partially within his own brain, coarsed through his veins with stunning familiarity.

"Keep it down... We have work to do..." Adrian muttered, shaking his head and returning the battle rifle to the prone position held at his chest. Yes, he had work to do. He had to get Curtis, and possibly Peterson, and... Warren. The young black man stood in front of Adrian with two sub-machine guns held in the air next to his shoulders, a white toothy smile across his lips. He raised his eyebrows twice and grinned wildly, as Adrian shook his head and walked past with intent, and a small smile himself.

"Open up on them!" Graves shouted, sending shivers of anticipation and meaning down the spines of the officers on the bridge. The two men typed a few final commands into the keypads on the terminals of the control panels, before the ship seemed to rumble and shake. The MAC-Cannon had released it's first wave of hell upon the enemy.

Adrian stopped walking as the sound of the 100-ton MAC-round left its chamber and exited the ships cannon. He looked around, before leaving the Cargo room, with Warren in toe. The realization of battle had stopped him for a moment, thinking about his duty as a Spartan. He needed to work to protect as many people in his travels across the Universe as he could, which was exactly what he was planning to do. Another loud thump could be heard as another round left the gun in a matter of possibly ten seconds, as Adrian and Warren continued away from the Cargo Bay and towards the hangers.

1739 Hours (Ship’s Time), April 26, 2552 (Military Calendar)/ UNSC Destroyer Erwin Rommel, location unknown

Commander Rebuga watched the destroyer next to him engulfed in plasma and fire.

“Dammit! What’s our status on the MAC gun?” he yelled.

“Sir, MAC gun ready to fire. We are waiting on the Vice Admiral’s orders, sir,” replied an unseen junior officer. Rebuga reviewed the TAC-map. He now saw the brilliance in the Vice Admiral’s strategy of forcing the Covenant to catch anything the UNSC battle group shot at them in order to protect the ring world, but why hadn’t he issued the fire. Perhaps he didn’t want any to get by and damage the ring either. Rebuga hoped that the sacrifices were well worth it.

“This is Vice Admiral Cory Johnson of the UNSC Winston Churchill'' to all UNSC vessels. Fire at will. Make ‘em count boys!''” The COM closed.

“You heard the man! Get me a firing solution on the big one and fire both our MAC guns in quick succession, not at the same time however! We want the bastard to have to move to catch them, not catch one and miss the other,” ordered Rebuga. Finally, some action! He went back to the TAC-map and looked at the coordinates for all the UNSC ships, their firing solutions, their MAC rounds, and the enemy ships that were moving to catch those rounds in a warm embrace like mothers awaiting their children’s return from school. He looked over at Senior Chief Petty Officer Cobbold, the chief engineer. “How’s the AI coming, Chief?” he called across to him.

“Sir, I’ll have Janglur online in another minute or two,” replied the engineer. That was good. Janglur was a tactical asset, but they hadn’t had time to install him because of the quick deployment. Rebuga hadn’t really interacted with Janglur yet. When the ship’s old AI was decommissioned because of age two days ago, Janglur had been the replacement. “Sir, I think I’ve got it!” The holotank winked on and an odd looking squirrel dressed in human garb appeared. The squirrel looked half asleep.

“Nice to finally make your acquaintance, Commander Rebuga. I’m sure we’ll work well together.” AIs always choose their own appearance, so Rebuga wasn’t too surprised that the AI looked odd. He preferred working with human-like AI, but this would do fine.

“Let’s see what you’ve got Janglur. I need Archer pods C through G armed, firing solutions for that big nasty looking ship in the middle, a COM to the Winston Churchill requesting permission to fire Archer missiles, and see if you can establish contact with the freighter; it seems that something is disrupting our COM channel with them.” Several seconds ticked by in an unnatural silence.

“Done.”

Divine Wrath, Fleet of Sancrosanct Requiem Installation 03

The ignoble stupidity of the Apes, even further than that of the Jiralhanae, was revealed as the enemy command ship, flanked by its two carriers and half-dozen remaining escorts, surged forward amongst the flaring, atomized superheated gas fields of the recently destroyed enemy destroyers. Queta thought momentarily, What a foolish name for the Apes to term their pathetic warships as "destroyers", for their deaths are swift - a single plasma torpedo is sufficient to utterly ravage one of them...

Their failure was further compounded by the incessant firing of their main projectile cannons beyond their effective range. Depleted uranium slugs crisscrossed in lines of metal thunder. ''Metal? We fought with projectiles millenia upon millenia ago. Their deaths are assured.''

His thoughts were also vocalized by the SYSOPS Officer at his station. "Fleet Master, they can do nothing but faulter in face of our advance."

Prescience, Battle Group Winston Churchill Installation 03

The viridian glow of the instrumentations under the faint amber battle lighting on the command deck of the UNSC Prowler Prescience cast light on Captain Eisen such that he appeared more as a ghastly phantom than human.

"Detonate the warheads, Fire Control."

Three muted blasts of primordially trembling fire awashed the trio of Covenant warships, and Longsword interceptors dove by regimented ranks to assail the vulnerable starships...

 -49 Proximal Secant  00:46, 17 December 2006 (UTC)

Vice Admiral Cory Johnson turned after issuing the fire command. He returned the Spartan's salute. "Ah. Chief. Just the person I was looking for. I need you to establish a spacehead on that... thing. Whatever it is, the Covenant want control of it. We're going to kill that pipe dream; set up a basecamp with our ODSTs, reinforce and stop them from taking over. You report to Drop Bay 05 and I'll let you loose as soon as we come within range. You won't be on your own for long, 'cause I'm sending our Pelicans right after you. Good luck and get going!" Jared saluted. "Yes, sir!" Once again he headed for the lifts, this time running as fast as he could. When a Vice Admiral told you to do something, you did it. The Churchill bucked as its MAC cannons fired their deadly projectiles towards the oncoming Covenant fleet, sending Jared off-balance for a moment. He regained his composure and jumped into the lift. On the way down, he unlimbered his SRSA2 and check the sights. Good. Everything was in working order. It would need to be in the fight to come. Vice Admiral Johnson gripped the brass railing on the bridge tightly. "Status report!" he barked. Weapons leaned back in her seat. "All rounds positive impact, sir," she said tautly. "Good. As we come in range, let 'em eat our Archers." She nodded assent. "Yes, sir!" Johnson rounded on the Nav officer. "How long before we pass over the ring, Lieutenant?" he asked. "Approximately five minutes, sir," the young man responded. Johnson nodded. Plenty of time for the Chief to get ready. "Sir!" Communications yelled, "The Hesperus is firing on the enemy!" "Good!" the Admiral said gruffly. "We need all the help we can get."
 *  SPARTAN-091  [[Image:UNSC.jpg|15 px]] HelmetComm undefined Juliet

Rult stopped as he heard the plasma torpedos dig into the UNSC Destroyers, though at the time he didn't even know what it was. Then he heard Captain Graves come over the speaker system, telling them to get to the hangar bays. Before he could wonder what was going on, his co-pilot, Rodney, came down the hall and stopped in front of him. "Come on. We have to go." He said quickly, grabbing Rults hand and slapped a fully loaded M6D pistol into it, along with two spare magazines, before he moved on in the direction that Rult had just come from. Strapping the pistol and magazines on his side, Rult turned and started to follow his co-pilot back to the hangar bays. "What's going on?" Rult asked Rodney after he heard the MAC rounds from the UNSC battle group, and the Hesperus, leave their cannons and tear through space towards the Covenant battle ships. "You heard the Captain, we're in the middle of a battle." He replied calmly, leaving Rult with even more questions, though he decided to just leave them until later. If there would even be a later.For now he was content to know that he would be leaving the ship, and the helplessness that came along with being part of the crew. Not knowing if you would die, live, or even if they were shooting at you, for that matter. Though, they were almost always shooting at you. Lekrel 01:29, 17 December 2006 (UTC)

Johnson-432 was woken up by the sound of the UNSC Winston Churchills MAC cannon firing.He rushed into the armoury and grabbed a Battle rifle.Several marines followed him.He rushed to the bridge.The captain told him to board the pelicans with the ODSTs and go the the ring.The crew had spotted phantoms taking off.They tried to shoot them but they cloaked. Johnson-432 boarded the pelican as it took off. They were headed towards the ring.

Malak 22:42, 17 December 2006 (UTC)

After the vice admiral gave the order to open fire on the covenant ships Captain Edson of the UNSC Midway gave the order to the AI onboard (daedalus) to fire both the MAC guns at the enemy flagship to have more of an impact on thier shields, as the emmence MAC cannons fired thier ordinance toward the enemy the heart of every member of the ship skipped a beat as they knew they were engaging thier nightmares as the MAC's were firing the captain spoke through the ships comms saying 'get ready..., remember your training and i know you will all serve me well but dont just do it for me or each other do it for the billions of people that are depending on us, now lets send these split-chinned uglies to thier dark cold graves in outer space, and show them that humanity will not go down without a fight, that we will not dissapear in the night, that we will prevail now get to work', he then gave the order to deploy 20 longswords carrying Shiva-class nuclear warheads to attack the enemy these would have a support group of 40 longswords carrying thier standard equipment, to defend them from the enemy stafighters, while they completed thier mission, he then orderd the 30 longswords to form defensive patrols around his ship, with 30 in reserve, after the MAC shells hit thier target he orderd his wave of Archer Missiles to the enemy frigates and a group to the flagship, from his 2 Shiva missile pods he orderd them to fire at the main ship along with the archers hoping at least one of them would get through without bieng destroyed, after the order was given a plasma torpedo hit the armour on the starboard side of the carrier he orderd the navigator to perform basic manouvers of the ship to dodge thier plama fire, along with the vice admirals orders of sending the spartans down to the surface he orderd his pelicans to take a back root to the ring structure with a defense force of 8 longswords, he also orderd his ODST troopers to be prepared for hard atmospheric drops, as he saw the enemy starfighters and some sort of larger craft he order all defensive marines to take thier positions through out the ship he quickly requsted one of the marines to fetch him his personnal M6D pistol and holster just incase ths battle came closer than he would of liked. J!MMY8806 22:57, 17 December 2006 (UTC)

After the covenant starfighters started attacking the UNSC ships Captain Edson orderd the longswords to take them down and quickly after suffering 9 longsword casulties to thier 3 out of 12 already he orderd the alert fighters airborne the remaining sarephs were taken down with no more casulties that was the battle around the ship over for the longsword pilots as they would wait for more to come into thier sights, but the battle was still in progress the Midway had taken 1 more plasma torpedo hits and 2 Pulse Laser hits to its starboard side the damage was contained with minor damage seen as though the meters of Titanium A armour held up against the shots. The captain orderd another 4 ship reaction squad to take off one of them was his personnal friend from the lunar academy a Lietenant J Paterson he was known to be one of the most skillid pilots in dogfighting the seraphs he alone had taken down over 20 before this battle he was launched and took place as the protecters of the ship.J!MMY8806 23:00, 18 December 2006 (UTC)

As soon as Rult and Rodney reached the hangar bay, they jumped inside their Pelican and headed for the cockpit. They sat down and buckled in, flipping switches as the Pelicans engines roared to life. "So how many Covenant ships are there?" Rult asked, figuring he would try and pass the time with questions. "Can't be many if we're not dead yet." Rodney responded, leaning back in his chair. "True," Rult muttered, "Very true." After that, Rult decided to not ask any more questions and just leaned back in his chair while he waited for people to start boarding so they could take off and head down to see what that giant ring was. He was very interested in finding out what it was, and what it did, since the Covenant seemed to have taken enough of an interest in it to send a battle fleet to defend it. Rult 19:15, 18 December 2006 (UTC)

The crew aboard the bridge grew silent and still, as the radio silence between The Hesperus and the UNSC battle group. Peterson squirmed within the silence ever so often, as they maintained their angles in space with which they continued to fire upon the enemy. The long barrel of the MAC-Gun allowed for a more precise firing solution, in which the shots could be guided better than a regulation MAC-Gun. Every twenty seconds another rumble would echo through the metal framework and empty hallways of The Hesperus as another burning round of one hundred ton depleted Uranium-Tungsten was launched towards the enemy. This muffled thunder gave a sort of pendulum effect to the silence, as if it were a metronome within the minute or so that they bridge crew waited for a response from anyone within the battle group.

“Damnit… Something must be wrong with our comm. Systems…” Graves muttered under his breath, but was shot a look from O’Shay that seemed to iterate that the communications system was functional and working properly. Graves sighed, and then opened his eyes again, placing his hands on the railing of the control panel once more. Frustration was overwhelming him, and as another round fired from the cannon, un-easiness Graves more. The ship only had carried 53 of the shells, and they had fired at least twenty one the forerunner planet while they fought the frigate in atmosphere. That battle seemed to burn through Graves’ mind, the fighting and dying of his men in front of the ship on the ground whilst he was nearly a hundred feet above in the bridge. The lances of plasma, the sound of the cannon firing as the ship fought for its dear life along with its crew against the hordes of covenant in onslaught. He remembered the explosions, the gunfire, and the valiancy of his crew along with his helplessness of not being alongside them. And that goddamned orb. If Adrian had never found it, they would never have been so ravaged by the Covenant, possibly even had been able to vacate the planet without fighting. But without it, they would never have been able to win that fight…

“Come on Warren… We need to find which ship Curtis got on to…” Adrian said out as he made his way through the crowd of people vacating the cargo room and making their way towards the pelicans. The looks on their faces told the story of a war-torn group of men just trying to survive, and possibly ensure the survival of their entire race. He didn’t turn his head to make eye contact, just continued to walk straight ahead even though many of the men and women stopped to look at him. He was their savior, he had saved them from the abyss of death.

A large black hand rested on Adrian’s shoulder, at the same level of height. There was only one man on board who would have that kind of size similar to Adrian’s. That was Curtis, the strong man. Adrian turned his head slightly, and Curtis dropped his to an angle, and they exchange glances. Curtis was a huge man, nearly seven feet like Adrian and built like an ox. Adrian had witnessed him in a struggle with an elite, in which he held his own and eventually overpowered the covenant soldier. That was a feet worth commending in itself. Out of all the people on board, besides their captain, Curtis was the one man Adrian truly would trust with his life. Only if things ever came to that, of course.

They continued on down the hallway, and Adrian plugged the BR-55 onto his back again, a hiss of the grappling hairs attaching to the large rifle and holding it firmly into place. He sighed a little, closing his eyes for a moment as he took a few steps. Without a look, Adrian took the M6C pistol from his side satchel and cocked it back, chambering the first bullet in the semi-automatic pistol. He put the pistol back with no look again, opening his eyes now. Walking down the hallway, as their fellow crewmates stood to the side to let them through, the three of them looked like they were elite; above everyone else. This was true, for they had survived much more than any of the others who had faced the covenant onslaught. Warren, machine guns strapped to his waist, Curtis with his M90 shotgun in his large left hand and Adrian with his modified BR-55 rifle. The only man they were missing was their sniper, who was currently on the bridge working his ass off to keep them alive whilst floating in space. The trio boarded the pelican along with fourteen other men, marines sprinkled with a few members of the crew, all clad in their green marine and armor designed for the elite members of the orbital drop shock units, now worn by the couple of members of the crew onboard the relatively small space craft. The marines and crew all sat down on the benches and stood, as Adrian made his way to the front of the craft.

Adrian placed a gauntleted hand on the edge of the pilot’s seat with the nametag: ‘Rult’. With a steady voice, he said, “Keep her steady, and if you think the Covenant are going to attack the ship… Let me know,” in a way that would wash uneasiness from the most cautious individuals. The assuredness in the way he inferred that he would take care of them and see them through, was that of a leader; the fact of the matter was he could take care of them, and probably was the only one on board who could.

On the lower levels of the ship, within one of the three med. Bays, where the injured could recuperate, lay a young looking woman with long brown hair and a face of an angel. She lay unconscious, as her body recovered from the battle she had been wounded in. Next to her bed was a suit of Mark V Mjolnir Armor, which was badly burned by plasma and had a slash across its plating. As she lay, she had no idea of the battle that was ensuing outside. Not a finger moved, not a hair on her head swayed. She lay motionless, as if frozen or dead. But she wasn’t dead, she was one of the lucky, the survivors. She lay prone and silent, as another MAC-round rumbled from its chamber and out of the ship. Her eyes burst open, their amethyst coloring dark and vibrant. Angelica, Angel,-054 was conscious.

Adrian moved back into the bulk of the Pelican and to address the crew before they left the ship. He sighed, trying to prepare for the speech he was to give to gain the confidence of the men aboard the ship. He needed to keep them from drowning in their woes, their sorrows; their fears. He lowered his head for only a moment, which was enough time for one of the men to get to his feet. He was wearing the black armor designed for the orbital drop shock troops, so it meant he was part of the original Hesperus crew. He reached up and grabbed a railing with his right hand, to face the rest of the soldiers aboard the Pelican since he was in the back. “Adrian. You’ve led us into battle before, and we’ve all seen that you intend only to protect us… But now, let us fight back! Let us fight ‘‘‘with’’’ you! We are your brothers; we are all fighting the same enemy! And, I can say, I’m honored to be fighting once more along your side!” The man yelled out, staring straight at the green armored warrior. The two armor clad soldiers exchange stares of admiration and respect for a moment before, one by one, the rest of the men on board rose to their feet. They all stared at the Spartan soldier, waiting for their orders.

Adrian raised his head, and stood as tall as he could, reached over his back and took the BR-55 rifle from its position. Among them, he was a hero. But, they were truly all heroes. This means they should all be the same. And in Adrian’s mind, there was only one thing to say. “There’s only one thing to do now… Fight for your loved ones… Fight for the men and women just like you who would live and die and do it all again just to fight in your shoes right now… Fight for the billions who have died at the hands of our enemy… Fight though… For yourselves!” He yelled out, and with a dramatic and courageous cheer the rest of the men brought their guns out as well. They were ready. User:CaptainAdamGraves

Rult listend to the thumping of the Marines, and crew, of the Hesperus as they came onto the ship. As if protesting to the all ready overweight "cargo", the ship suddenly let out a loud groan, clearly indicating a sudden increase in weight. And Rult had a good idea of what it was. His suspicions were soon confirmed as the large, metal hand placed itself on the edge of his seat. Adrian-014. It was almost impossible to not know him. It was hard to miss a half-ton soldier in high-tech armor walking around the ship. "Will do, sir." Rult replied as Adrian left the room and he and Rodney started to make the final preparations for lift off. As they did, he listend to the speech that was being made. A speech that he was glad he didn't have to make. Mainly because he wouldn't know where to start. The closest friend he had on the ship was Rodney, and they never had to make speeches since they were only pilot and co-pilot. But it was reasurring to hear the speech given by Adrian and the ODST, even if Rult was unsure that they would even be able to lift off with all the added weight. The back ramp closed with a hiss as Rult engaged the air lock, making sure that they would make it into the rings atmosphere safely and didn't get pulled out into space or suffocate. "Air locks engaged, Jets coming online" Rult reported, the jets suddenly springing to life and the Pelican starting to lift off the ground. Once more, the Pelican gave a loud groan as the weight that was focused on the landing gear started to lift. "Landing gear up," Rodney reported, "Ready for lift off." They both slid the visors on their helmets down and watched as a stream of data crossed in front of their eyes as Rult slowly made a 180 degree turn and faced the hangar bay doors. They waited for the other Pelican to finish loading up and the hangar bay to clear. Then the room started to vent it's atmosphere so the ship wouldn't be instantly pulled out of the hangar the second they opened. Once done, the two Pelicans shot out of the hangar, not wanting to be caught in any surprise that the Covenant might have cooked up, such as Seraph fighters hiding nearby. "Sir," Rult said, turning back for one second to see if Adrian had heard him. "Incoming transmission from the ring. Verification codes check out. It's from Charlie Company. What would you like me to do?" He asked, maneuvering to avoid a piece of debris from one of the UNSC ships that had been destroyed by a plasma torpedo. Lekrel 00:48, 19 December 2006 (UTC)

As the Elites fired at the ODSTs, Johnson-432 threw a grenade at the Elite's shelter in a crashed pelican.The grenade went of killing the covenant in the pelican. Some marines put up Machine guns outside the base to protect it. Johnson-432 ordered a few pelicans to drop off weapons, troops, and vehicles.The pelicans flew in dropping weapons pods. Marines came out and Pelicans with Warthogs and Scorpion tanks followed. Several phantoms flew over the base headed back to the covenant fleet. All but one was destroyed by the Marines and Johnson-432.

Malak 01:22, 19 December 2006 (UTC)

1741 Hours (Ship’s Time), April 26, 2552 (Military Calendar)/ UNSC Marathon-class Carrier-Cruiser Winston Churchill, location unknown

Johnson was worried.

“Any response from that freighter yet? We’ve tried hailing it from a dozen different ships and we still can’t seem to raise them.”

“Sir, we are receiving a transmission from the UNSC Erwin Rommel. It seems to be concerning the freighter.”

“Put them through.” There was a burst of static, followed by an odd, almost sleepy voice.

“This is MIL AI 0472 Janglur Swifteye of the UNSC Destroyer Erwin Rommel to Vice Admiral Cory Johnson of the UNSC Cruiser Winston Churchill, please respond.”

“This is Vice Admiral Johnson. How may I be of service?”

“''Admiral, we have discerned the reason for the radio silence from the freighter. There is some sort of jamming signal originating on the ring. The signal source’s name is 49 Proximal Secant, though we don’t know what the meaning of it all is at this time. Be advised, I am going to try and cut through the static and open a COM with the ship.''”

“Well then do it boy! I want contact with that damned freighter! I want to know what in Sam’s hill its doing here!”

“''Affirmative Admiral. Janglur out.''” The COM snapped off. Johnson wondered what 49 Proximal Secant was. It must be the builders of that ring, but if it was, that was definitely not a good sign. The UNSC hope was the request their aid against the Covenant, not start a war with them. The Vice Admiral hoped their tampering was only due to a misunderstanding and not an accidental provocation on the UNSC’s side. Giving the Covenant another ally was not what they wanted.

“''Sir, I think I have established a link with the freighter. Apparently it is called the Hesperus. Would you like me to transmit you a direct link?''”

“Yes son, please put them on the horn.” The transmission from the Erwin Rommel ended, and another COM opened with the freighter. A voice came over the channel.

“This is the UNSC Parabola-class Freighter Hesperus, do you copy, over?”

--Rot 02:10, 19 December 2006 (UTC)

1 week before the UNSC fleet arrives

Hinte' Warymee paced the halls towards the bridge buried below ten decks worth of metal allow. Upon arriving he straightened his helmet and strode into the bridge. "Hinte." The shipmaster Quenta said kindly as he noticed Hinte' from the top of the bridge platform. Hinte' jogged to the the fleet master and straightened to his full height of 7 and a half feet. being one of the tallest elites on the ship was sometimes a problem as a lot of the ranking officers on the ship viewed his height as a challenge. "fleet master" Hinte said in a loud clear voice. "I have been watching your devotion to your duties for some time." the shipmaster said "your unrelenting devotion to the continuation of the great journey has never wavered and for that I am thankful." this was going like nothing Hinte' had imagined he had thought that if the fleet master had wanted him it must have been for the public execution of him. "I hereby promote you to Field Master Hinte' Warymee." the fleet master continued. Hinte' was stunned and could only manage to stammer his thanks as the fleet master started spurting orders. "Hinte' I have chosen you to lead the expeditionary force to the surface of the sacred ring. I have given you full comand of over a thousand unggoy 500 Sangheili two Lekgolo pair and 750 Kig-Yar. I am also authorizing you to take as many dropships and as much in the way of supplies as you need. Also take any of the vehicles as you need. may the prophets be with you." Hinte' Warymee strode out of the bridge and was met by a very short sangheli (only 6 and a half feet) carrying a large bundle. "Field Master" the elite greeted him. "This is yours." he said and handed him the large bundle the walked off. Intrigued Hinte' looked inside the bundle and found a new set of gold armor. Returning to his quarters Hinte' replaced his old armor with the new and looked into the mirror that had been passed down through generations, said to have been made by the forerunners themselves and grinned in a feral sort of way. Field Master Hinte' Warymee was ready for the whatever the sacred ring could throw at him... How truly Wrong he was.

Adrian made his way to the front of the Pelican, and stood in between the two pilots. He was staring at the ring that was becoming ever closer in the window. Behind them now was the Hesperus, as it continued to fire it's MAc-Cannon towards the Covenant ships. By now, they must have made a direct hit on the lead ships at least. He knew that the MAC-Cannon was somewhat accurate, even from the elongated distance with which the metal behemoth was trying to fire from. He knew Graves wouldn't waste too many of the shells on the enemy, once the crew that was willing to leave, left, he would probably engage the Covenant vigorously... Probably.

Adrian thought for a moment, as the debris from the ships that had been destroyed by the covenant floated ominously by. How many men had died within seconds when the covenant had destroyed those destroyers? How many more fought for their lives down on the 'Halo'... All of these thoughts were clouding his judgments. “Make sure you maintain radio contact with Charlie Company ever twenty seconds at least… Make sure our LZ is clear and no hostiles are present. I don’t want to necessarily place us into a hard drop…” He said with clarity, his deep voice projected by side panel speakers on his helmet. As he said this though, unbeknownst to the Pelicans, a shadowy shape lurked

“This is the UNSC Parabola-class Freighter Hesperus, do you copy, over?” Peterson said once more into the open Comm. Channel between the battle group and the Hesperus. It was like talking into a rainstorm of static. Maybe if Helen was in the ship still, they may have been able to reroute the comm. Channels through one of the links within one of the space craft onboard. But since all of those compliments had vacated the ship, there was no possibility of that. Suddenly, it was as if the cloak of static had been lifted from the communications. A link was established and they were finally through. It was as if someone had lifted a veil which had been covering the Hesperus. “We’re through sir!” Peterson exclaimed, turning to Graves.

Graves smirked a little, as the thunder of another round left the MAC-Gun. He turned to O’Shay quickly, as if an idea had formulated in his mind that exact moment. “O’Shay… Stop the Mac-Cannon, but keep it primed. Begin dumping the auxiliary power that would be used for charging the cannon into the quick-release reservoirs and bring the auto-cannons and Archer missiles online,” Graves said with a calm collected look about him, a smirk across his thin lips. His black eyes seemed to drill into O’Shay for a moment, whom looked at Graves with a peculiar, questioning look. “I want that done five minutes ago, O’Shay!” He yelled out, snapping the red headed young man back to reality.

From the shadows of space an ominous figure made itself apparent alongside the Pelican. It was one of the Covenant Seraph fighters. It remained on the Pelican to the left of the one that Adrian was currently tearing through space in, and seemed to hang without moving for a few good seconds. It matched the Pelican’s speed with ease, and seemed to press on faster as if to challenge the Pelicans to see who the better ship was. Suddenly though, the seraph veered to the link, but it was too late. A stream of bullets tore into it’s shields, along with several Anvil-II ASM rockets which detonated upon impact, engulfing the Seraph in bright red flame, which mixed with the now-twisted bluish purple metal of the Seraph. Two Longsword Interceptors; with Shortsword Bombers trailing each individually, came up along side both of the Pelicans. They dwarfed the transport spacecraft immensely, showing superiority and power. A comm. Link opened up as the pilot of the Longsword tapped their frequency.

“We’re going to see you boys in, make sure you make it onto the thing in one piece, Over.” The rather husky voice sounded over the channel. It belonged to one; Jason Eris, the pilot of the Longsword which had torn the Seraph to pieces in a matter of seconds. He was well known now, as the man who had delivered Adrian to the frigate in one piece, dodging and weaving through plasma lances whilst Adrian hung from the bottom like a rag doll. They were in safe hands. User:CaptainAdamGraves

--Sangheili (restored by Rot 06:22, 19 December 2006 (UTC))