39 Chapter 38
With every calculated step, Kelly led a group of Spartans through the dimly lit corridors, their armor glinting faintly in the subdued lighting. Each Spartan moved with a synchronized grace, their years of rigorous training evident in their fluid motions and unwavering focus.
"Roger that, Kelly," John responded, his voice steady and calm. As they moved deeper into the enemy stronghold, their surroundings grew increasingly ominous.
The Silence was interrupted by the sound of movement down the hallway. Kelly paused, her sharp eyes scanning the immediate vicinity for potential threats.
"Fan out," she commanded, her voice barely above a whisper. The Spartans immediately obeyed, dispersing throughout the hallway while maintaining their guarded formation. Their senses were heightened as they swiftly checked each door and corner for any sign of enemy activity.
As Kelly neared the end of the corridor, a blinding light suddenly flooded the hallway. She skiddily took cover behind an archway. The familiar echo of enemy footsteps filled her ears as she gripped her weapon tighter. John's voice came through the comm link once again.
"We're in position," he stated with unwavering determination. "Ready when you are, Kelly."
With a deep breath to steady herself, she responded without any hint of fear in her voice. "Ready." The silence resumed its reign over the dark corridor as each Spartan prepared for what was to come.
"Now!" John's urgent command crackled through the comm link, cutting through the tension in the dim corridor. The Spartans surged ahead, weapons at the ready, their armor gleaming in the low light.
A sudden burst of gunfire echoed down the hallway, bullets whizzing past Kelly as she ducked and weaved behind cover. The enemy was closing in fast, their footsteps pounding against the metal floor.
"Take them out!" Kelly shouted, her voice fierce and unwavering. The Spartans sprang into action, unleashing a barrage of return fire with pinpoint accuracy.
Explosions rocked the corridor as grenades detonated, sending debris flying and shadows dancing on the walls. The air filled with the acrid scent of smoke and burning metal.
John's voice cut through the chaos, cool and collected. "Keep moving!
With a nod of determination, Kelly signaled for the final assault. The Spartans charged forward as one, their movements synchronized and deadly. Each shot fired was precise, each blow landed with calculated force.
In a whirlwind of violence and speed, the enemy fell before them, no match for the relentless onslaught of the Spartans. Victory was swift and brutal, leaving only silence in its wake as they moved on to their next objective.
"Objective in sight," Kelly reported, her eyes locked onto the massive steel door at the end of the corridor. "Preparing to breach."
"Copy Kelly coming up on your six" Said John as he and his team of Spartan's approached from where Kelly and her team had just cleared a path.
"Ready?" John queried, stepping up beside Kelly, his large frame dwarfing her slender form. Kelly gave a firm nod, her fiery determination unbroken. "Always," she replied simply. With a wave of her hand, two Spartans came forward, placing explosive charges on the hefty steel door. They quickly retreated back to cover, their steps falling in sync with each other's.
"Breach in three... two... one..." Kelly's voice was steady and calm.
A deafening blast echoed through the corridor as the charges detonated, tearing open a gaping hole in the steel door. Hot fragments of twisted metal flew in all directions, clanging against nearby walls or ricocheting harmlessly off their sturdy armor.
"No time to lose," Kelly commanded as she led her Spartans through the smoking breach. "Eyes open and heads down!"
Inside, red emergency lights pulsed ominously against the stark metallic surfaces of a command center. Multiple enemy combatants were stunned by the explosive entrance.
Yet others began to regain their footing and rallied in an effort to defend their stronghold.
"Engage!" John's order surged through the comm link, sparking another round of precision chaos.
Kelly was unstoppable as she waded into the fray, her weapon roaring with deadly intent. Her team followed suit, moving like predators among prey - silent but for their weapons' deadly song.
One by one, the defenders were cut down, their feeble attempts at retaliation drowned in the thunderous symphony of gunfire and explosions.
"Clear!" came the call from Kelly, her voice resounding with triumphant determination. Around her, the remnants of the enemy laid strewn across the cold metal floor, their last stand crushed beneath the might of the Spartans.
"Hold position," John commanded as he approached a large console near the back of the room. His hands moved swiftly over the complex array of buttons and switches, his eyes scanning multiple data streams simultaneously.
Kelly watched as John worked to get the information on the whereabouts of other Insurrectionists bases - their primary mission objective all along.
"Got it," John announced a few minutes later. His fingers sped over the console one last time before he secured a small data chip. He turned to face Kelly, holding it up for her to see. "Mission accomplished."
Kelly nodded seeing the data chip in John's hand.
"Let's move out," he ordered , already setting coordinates for extraction on his personal comm link.
As one, they filed out of the command center, leaving behind nothing but destruction and silence in their wake. Their footsteps echoed in unison against metal flooring and then faded away as they disappeared into darkness.
After a few minutes they had arrived at a breach in the facility where a Pelican was waiting. Each Spartan boarded the Pelican and took their seats.
Once every Spartan was inside the doors closed and the Pelican returned to the nearby Halcyon Light Cruiser.
Meanwhile near Harvest, Admiral Cole's fleet had exited Warp speed within the system. Immediately upon exiting Warp, the fleet of 40 UNSC ships had encountered a Covenant Fleet numbering 20 Vessels. And one of those ships was massive in size compared to what the UNSC has seen before.
To Axel he knew that this was one of the Covenant's Super-destroyer's which would prove to be a problem for the UNSC fleet because of it's firepower and it's defenses.
The other ship's in the Covenant Fleet consisted of destroyer's, Cruisers, corvettes, and frigates. And they had already started to turn towards the UNSC fleet, so Admiral Cole ordered the fleet to engage.
As the UNSC ships began their assault, the sky lit up with fiery streaks of weaponry, illuminating the darkness of space. The Covenant fleet responded in kind, and soon the celestial battlefield was ablaze with Plasma and missile trails.
"Target their engines," Admiral Cole barked into his comm link. "We need to take out that Super-Destroyer!"
In response, a volley of archer missiles away from the UNSC ships, racing towards the massive alien vessel. A brilliant flash marked their impact, but the Super-Destroyer remained intact, its shields shimmering as they absorbed the brunt of the attack.
"Shields are holding!" came the report from one of the ship's officers.
"Then we need to hit them harder!" Cole replied fiercely.
"Understood, sir," Axel responded. He was aboard the UNSC Leviathan, preparing for his own assault. He commanded his crew to load up their own arsenal of missiles and heavy artillery. This was the chance for him to show off the new Auto cannons which was created as a counter to the covenant's powerful Plasma weaponry.
"All hands, prepare to engage that Covenant ship!" Axel ordered over the ship's intercom. The Leviathan, a monstrous behemoth of steel and weaponry, surged forward, its powerful engines propelling it straight towards the Covenant fleet.
"Fire all cannons!" he commanded. The ship shuddered as the new auto cannons discharged their deadly payload. An array of devastating energy projectiles hurtled through the void, glowing white-hot against the backdrop of stars and distant planets.
The Super-Destroyer's shielding flickered under the hailstorm of energy rounds but held on doggedly. Yet, a few hits managed to find their way past the shield.
"Direct hit!" an officer shouted over the din. "Their shields are starting to buckle!"
Axel didn't waste any time in capitalizing upon this advantage. "All ships," he broadcasted to the fleet, "focus fire on the Super-Destroyer! It's faltering!"
Almost simultaneously, dozens of UNSC vessels converged their fire on the alien behemoth. The Super-Destroyer's shields flickered and warped under the relentless assault, but they didn't give in.
"Launch everything we got!" Axel ordered with stern resolution etched across his face. On his command, a barrage of Archer missiles and Auto cannons tore through space towards the behemoth. For a moment, it seemed as if time stood still, then came another bright flash as countless detonations lit up its shields.
This time though, the Super-Destroyer wasn't able to hold on. Its shields buckled and failed beneath the onslaught of Archer missiles and auto cannon fire. Unspeakable devastation was wrought upon its hull in an instant.
The Super-Destroyer shields had failed and now it was vulnerable to the concentrated power of the UNSC fleet. Its hulking form was engulfed in a storm of explosions, each one tearing through its once-invincible hull. Fires blazed across its surface as internal systems were ruptured and destroyed.
"Keep firing, don't let up!" Admiral Cole's voice filled Axel's ear, his determined command driving the assault forward.
The Super-Destroyer reeled under the unyielding barrage. Another volley of Archer missiles left the firing tubes of the UNSC ships, their fiery trails slashing across space to collide with the staggering behemoth. The Super-Destroyer shuddered violently with each successive impact, each explosion further compromising its integrity. The energy shields held of the counter attack by the Covenant fleet allowing the UNSC fleet take the direct hit's from the smaller ships.
But it came at a costs as they had already lost 8 ships to the Covenant fleet while they were only focusing on the Super-destroyer at this time.
"Prepare for evasive maneuvers," Axel ordered, his eyes never leaving the screen that displayed the deteriorating Super-Destroyer. He knew well enough that desperate enemies were dangerous ones.
The crew obeyed immediately, bracing themselves for violent shifts in momentum as the Leviathan moved to dodge retaliatory fire from the Covenant fleet.
"The enemy is returning fire," one of his officers reported, her voice calm despite the chaotic scene playing out before them.
But Axel's focus remained solely on the Super-Destroyer. "Maintain fire!" he bellowed above the clamor of battle noise filling the bridge.
Suddenly, a bright light emanated from within the Super-Destroyer. It quickly grew brighter and larger until it consumed the entire vessel and then some.
The light was blinding, forcing Axel and the crew to shield their eyes. The bridge's main screen automatically dimmed to protect the sensors from the overwhelming luminescence. The silence that followed was eerie, only broken by the soft hum of the ship's systems and the labored breathing of its occupants.
Then came the shockwave.
It hit like a supernova, powerful enough to shake the entire UNSC fleet. The force of the blast threw unsecured crew members off their feet, and alarms began to blare throughout the ship, echoing hauntingly in the stunned silence that followed.
Slowly, Axel opened his eyes. The tactical display was a mess of static and disjointed outlines – their sensors struggling to regain footing after being blinded by the explosion. Despite this, one thing was clear; where there had once been a formidable Covenant Super-Destroyer, there was now nothing but a field of debris.
"We did it..." one officer spoke up incredulously, his voice barely more than a whisper. "We took down the Super-Destroyer."
"Don't get distracted, Now all ships focus fire on the remaining Covenant fleet" Ordered Axel. His voice carried across the frenzied bridge, a bastion of authority amidst the chaos. The officers obeyed immediately, their focus shifting from the obliterated Super-Destroyer to the remaining Covenant ships.
"Tell all ships to maintain offensive maneuvers," Axel ordered, his eyes scanning over the tactical display.
"On it, sir!" his communications officer replied, swiftly disseminating his orders across the fleet.
The Leviathan shook violently as it clashed with the remaining Covenant vessels. Its auto cannons roared to life once more, sending a barrage of energy rounds towards the enemy.
It appeared as though the Covenant had figured out which UNSC ship's posed the most threat and they had started targeting the Leviathan. While the Leviathan was a carrier in name, Axel had retrofitted to be able to stand it's ground.
Admiral Cole observed in awe as the Leviathan assertively led the battle and motivated the other UNSC ships to keep fighting. Throughout his career, he had never witnessed a carrier taking on such a frontline role, but there it was, happening right before his eyes.
With the Super-destroyer gone, the UNSC fleet led by Admiral Cole managed to win the battle and cause the Covenant to flee. Out of the 20 Covenant ship's, only 5 were able to escape, while on the UNSC side 12 ship's were lost during the engagement.
To Axel these number's were disappointing as he felt that they could have been reduced to single digits and more lives could have been saved. But this was the price to pay in war and it was something that he would see time and time again.
