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Halo: First Contact

Chapter 6: Confrontations II

Lieutenant Nicholas Steinberg sat in the pilot's seat of his longsword, nervously fiddling with the control panel. He still could not believe what was happening. It all seemed like a bad dream. Never in his life did he think he would ever see an alien. He definitely did not think he would be fighting them. Yet here he was now, flying his longsword and preparing to do just that.

"Can you believe this shit?" He asked, turning to his co-pilot.

"Nah, but that won't change anything." Jason replied simply from his seat beside Nicholas.

The pair had been flying their longsword together for three years and had been through a hell of a lot in that time.

Jason was always the level headed, easygoing one, whereas Nicholas tended to worry about everything. They got along easily, unlike a few other longsword pilots they knew.

"What do you think we're going up against?" Nicholas wondered aloud. He was curious as to what these aliens would be flying. Hopefully they weren't horribly out of their league. He didn't plan on getting shot down by extraterrestrials, although...it certainly would be one hell of a way to go.

"Hopefully, it's nothing we can't handle."

"Hopefully..." Nicholas agreed.

"You guys alive in there?" A familiar voice cut in over their helmet's audio receivers.

Jason rolled his eyes underneath his dark green helm. "Last time I checked, Clara."

"Just making sure. Stay sharp guys, these critters could be packing anything. Stay close to your wingman, watch each other's backs, and we should all get out of this alive."

"Will do, take care of yourself, Clara." Nicholas replied as he cut comms with the other longsword with a flick of a switch.

"This is Raptor-1 to Raptor-2, how copy?" Jason looked out the small armored window to his left and to the interceptor gliding alongside them.

"This is Raptor-2, copy over. You guys ready to kick some alien ass?" The boisterous pilot asked with a smile in his voice.

"Ready and raring, Kirk, watch our tail and we'll watch yours."

"I sure hope so, because it looks like the party's starting."

Sure enough, both Nicholas and Jason saw the enemy fleet moving towards them. Only half broke away from their engagement, but that was still a number to be weary of.

"The fleet better get a good hit in before we start." Nicholas muttered as he took in the vast swarms of enemy fighters in the distance. He could feel his blood pumping as he started to psyche up for the coming battle.

'That's a hell of a lot of ships.'

They had seven squadrons deployed, four longswords and three broadswords, a force of 168 of the deadliest fighter-craft fielded by humanity. Usually that would be overkill for most naval engagements. This time, Nicholas and Jason had a hunch that it might not be enough. Just in front of them they could make out the forms of over 350 of the enemy's counterparts. But even from the vast distance, they could tell that these ships were smaller.

"I gotta bad feeling about this." Jason muttered uneasily.

"Hey man, we'll get through this. We always have before. It'll be just like the old days. Imagine the rep we'll get back on the _Thundercloud_eh? We'll be some of the first pilots to shoot down an alien ship." Nicholas tried to cheer his old friend up.

The other pilot nodded his head slowly. "Yeah I suppose." He shook his head roughly and took a deep breath. "Alright, let's do this!"

"That's the spirit!"

"Immortal to all strike craft, battle group Helios will be engaging the enemy shortly." The commanding voice of Captain Invarstead crackled in the cockpit.

"This is going to be good!" Nicholas exclaimed excitedly.

The wait was not long.

There was a series of bright flashes followed by detonations amidst the alien fleet. Cruiser-weight vessels sparkled as what they could only assume were shields deflected most of the damage. Yet, the ship hit by the supercarrier was annihilated in an awe-inspiring fireworks display that lit up the void of space. No one could have missed it. Likely the explosion could have been seen planetside.

"Hell yeah, that's what I'm talking about!" Jason barked joyously. "Take that you alien bastards. That's what you get when you fuck with the UNSC!" He shook his gloved fist at the window and chuckling with pride.

Yet, it seemed the enemy was not as happy as they were about that. The surviving vessels and fighters screamed their way across the uncluttered space between the UNSC fleet and the current battle, eager to retaliate.

"Shit, here we go." Nicholas grunted as he banked the longsword to the left, his wingmates following suit. The seven interceptors spread out evenly in a V formation. Meanwhile, the corvettes and destroyers pulled apart, the weaker corvettes behind the more durable destroyers. _The Immortal_stayed in the very back, and released the duo of slugs from its pair of mini MACs. The two small rounds slammed into an enemy cruiser and plowed furrows in its armor, a near miss.

The cruisers were still too far to attack it seemed so they had to rely on their legions of fighters.

"Contacts incoming! Stick together Raptor flight!" Nicholas ordered as the enemy attack craft reached weapons range.

The small ships swarmed the UNSC fighters and zipped around, firing flurries of red lasers at the longswords. Nicholas jerked on the controls and sent his interceptor into a steep dive, pencil thin crimson bolts searing past his wingtips in hot pursuit. He shot under the pack of fighters and pulled up and around, flanking them.

To his left Raptor-3 got a lock and fired a ASGM-10 missile. The warhead dipped and dived as it chased after the small black and red ship attempting to juke it. But the targeting computer inside the missile ruthlessly tracked the enemy and slammed into its tail, reducing the fighter into molten slag.

'At least we can kill them.'

Nicholas fired the 110mm rotary cannons, peppering the trio of alien craft in front of him. The shields held on the centermost one but the other two vomited smoke from their engines and spiraled into each other in a brief flash of light.

"Nicholas, evade!"

Instantly, he smashed his controls to the left and a salvo of lasers streaked just above the cockpit, illuminating it with a brief red glow.

"Raptor-2, I got one on my tail!" He used all his skill to keep his longsword just ahead of the endless barrage of lasers showering around him. The foam in his helmet was soaked with nervous sweat and his teeth were locked tightly together as he concentrated on keeping his ship from ending up as a blazing fireball.

Suddenly, the longsword shuddered as a stray hit connected just in front of the cockpit, peeling of several millimeters of armor plating. At this rate they would not last long.

'Shit, shit, shit.' He panicked internally.

"This is Raptor-2, I got him."

A longsword thundered past, shorty followed by a rocket trailing exhaust that collided with the fighter attempting to blast them into oblivion.

"Thanks for the assist." Jason said gratefully, exhaling in relief as he leaned back into his seat.

"No problem Raptor-1, drinks are on you tonight."

Their brief moment of levity was shattered quickly.

Raptor-4's left wing exploded as a slurry of ruby red rods walked its way across the longsword's hull, melting armor and rending metal. The strike craft was sent into an uncontrolled spiral and swarmed by enemy fighters that tore it apart like vultures over a carcass. Raptor-4 ignited violently as its munitions cooked in the intense heat, sending bits of titanium battleplate scattering into the void.

"Fuck!" Nicholas growled in frustration. Swerving his fighter towards his wingmate's killers and hosing them down with a merciless barrage from his rotary cannons. The enemy's flimsy hulls were no match for the high caliber shells as they were torn to shreds.

'Take that assholes!' Vanquishing their killers soothed his rage slightly but not enough to satisfy him.

"Stay close Raptor flight, don't let them pick you off."

The longswords were far larger than the enemy fighters, and their munitions had no problems overloading shields and tearing apart hulls. But these venomians had numbers, speed, and advanced weapons. The lasers could penetrate their battleplate in high doses. Otherwise, they did minimal damage, simply heating up the exterior, albeit to dangerous levels.

The dogfight was a brutal deathmatch as the outnumbered longswords put up a valiant fight against the odds. Thankfully, support arrived in the form of the Broadswords.

Broadswords were the bigger brothers of the longswords and were a very recent addition into service. They had more armaments, thicker hulls, and a reversed wing profile giving them a little more speed and atmospheric maneuverability.

"Crusaders, take'em down." The lead broadsword pilot ordered.

The broadswords slammed into the melee, weapons blazing. They scythed a trail through the battle and gave the beleaguered longswords the time they needed to recover. When they finally returned to formation, there were only 70 of the original 96 broadswords left.

They had suffered 26 losses, a staggering number. But they gave as they got. The collective tally for enemy's shot down at that moment was over a hundred. And still there were hundreds more to contend with.

They needed to keep all of these fighters away from battlegroup Helios, which was busy engaging the main enemy force. Nicholas could see the void war from his cockpit, and it was intense.

A destroyer fired a cloud of Archer missiles into a venomian cruiser, beating through its battered shields and carving craterous holes in its armor. In retaliation, a lash of lasers burned into the destroyer's hull, detonating a store of missiles and leaving a crater in its wake that leaked a steady silvery cloud of oxygen. The wounded destroyer listed to its stern but was not out of the fight. It used its maneuvering jets to shift its prow towards the attacking cruiser and fired its MACs at the void equivalent of pointblank range. The slugs gutted the alien warship, instantly splitting it in half.

Off to the side, a marathon cruiser contended with three enemy warships as its compliment of strike craft danced lethally with a pack of fighters. The marathon had innumerable gouges in its armor from successful hits and two of the alien cruisers were dead in space, firing from a still position, their engines cracked and exhuming some strange green glowing fluids.

The weaker Paris and strident frigates had grouped together and were holding their own against four enemy cruisers, weaving swiftly through them and picking at their shields with Archers.

The rest of the battlegroup were spread out in similar conflicts around the supercarrier. The Errant King lorded over the entire warzone, firing missiles at anything in range and charging its MACs for another devastating volley. All around it small skirmishes raged in the form of dogfights as some enemy fighters inevitably trickled past battlegroup Epsilon. There were simply too many to contain.

They were definitely successful in grabbing the enemy's attention. Only a paltry number of their warships were left fighting the cornerians, the rest having pulled back and thrown themselves at the human fleet.

The massive alien vessel itself was beginning to lethargically glide away to challenge the supercarrier. Things were about to escalate.

Nicholas shook his head and focused back on what he could actually do. His longsword joined the rest as they prepared to fly a counter charge to assist a destroyer that was getting swarmed.

**********

"VERMIN!" Admiral Claw snarled in rage. These intruders dared attack his fleet and destroy his ships. As angry as he was, the reptilian was also intelligent. He had seen the power of their weapons. A single volley from the guns on that colossal warship was enough to wipe out a cruiser.

He loathed considering defeat, but he was no fool. He could not fight both the cornerians and this new threat simultaneously. He needed to pull back and regroup. He did not dare try and recover his groundside forces. They would have to fend for themselves. This battle was lost and Lord Oikonny must be informed of this new development.

But not before he made his displeasure known.

"Get me close to that ship." He pointed at the huge vessel coordinating the strangers' attacks. "And charge up the Mega Cannon."

They were not the only ones with big guns.

**********

"Admiral, the enemy carrier is moving to engage!" An ensign called out on the bridge.

Matthias absorbed that information as he redirected a destroyer to fire on an approaching cruiser. He looked up from the battle map and saw it approaching, a hulking monstrosity in its own right.

"That thing could do some serious damage." Ash announced from the holotank at his side.

"Get me a firing solution on that vessel."

"Aye, Admiral." The weapons officer responded.

"Ash, make sure it hits."

"Oh, I will."

"MACs at sixty-five percent and charging!"

The alien carrier loomed closer, its deck guns crippling the destroyer, Ironclad. Its engines exploded, shearing off the aft and venting atmosphere as it rolled haphazardly, spewing equipment and crewman into the void of space.

"The Ironclad has been scuttled!"

"Damnit, send retrieval teams and search for lifeboats!" Matthias shouted.

"MACs at seventy percent charge."

There was no time to wait.

"Fire now!"

"Firing MACs."

The supercarrier jerked backwards as its MAC cannons unleashed their undercharged payload. Surprisingly, the alien carrier deflected the shots, sending them spinning away, one of which lanced a stray venomian cruiser and disemboweled it.

"Sir, I am detecting massive energy build up in the enemy carrier. It's going to fire!" His sensors officer cried out in alarm.

Matthias stomach lurched. There was no telling what damage it would do to his vessel.

"Admiral, the Midsummer's Solace is abandoning its position!"

"What?" Matthias was stunned. The marathon cruiser was close to the fight and burned its engines at full power, throwing itself between the supercarrier and venomian capital ship_. 'What the hell is Strelkov thinking?'_

Everything flashed red as the capital ship fired its weapon. The entire fleet watched in horror as the Midsummer's Solace exploded. A blinding beam of crimson energy spewed from a barrel at the front of the venomian carrier and punched through the marathon cruiser's mid-deck. It erupted into sickeningly vibrant explosion, vaporized in an instant. Nothing was left to show that a ship with over 400 crewmen had occupied that space.

"It's gone Matthias." Ash whispered.

At that moment, rage boiled in his veins. Strelkov had been with him since before Sigmus IV, he had been one of the first to join his fleet. And now he was gone, along with everyone on his ship.

"Empty missile pods D1 through M26. I want that ship blasted from existence!"

Yet before he could have satisfaction, a blue glow surrounded the venomian carrier and its surviving warships and they vanished, leaving a faint mocking afterimage to fade in the blackness of space.

"Enemy fleet has disappeared, Admiral."

"Whoresons, bastards the lot of them!" Matthias tore his cap off his bald head and threw it to the ground in futile fury.

The bridge was silent for several minutes.

It was unlike the Admiral to lose his temper. For many of them, it was their first time seeing him enraged.

Matthias forcefully calmed himself down with deep breaths, evenly collected his cap, and walked back to his chair. Once he sat down, he collected bearings and was back to his usual self.

"After action report..."

There was a delay before he received an answer from his crew as reports trickled in. "The Ironclad was wrecked, and ships are searching for survivors as you previously ordered, so far they have not found any. We lost two corvettes, the strident Vigilance_was lost with all hands, and the Paris frigates _Fury and Bayern are heavily damaged, suffering from a reactor leak and hull breaches respectively. Strike craft are mopping up any stragglers and their losses are as of yet uncounted."

There was no need to mention the Midsummer's Solace.

Matthias sighed heavily. It was not as bad as it could have been. But it was still disheartening. 'Had all of this been worth it?'

"Continue recovery efforts and reassemble the fleet. I want a detailed report within the hour." He had to send an update to HIGHCOM and it would not be a pleasant one.

The admiral looked out from the bridge and to the debris strewn space. Even with what happened, they still were not finished. All this had been to help the aliens of that planet out there. He could see the surviving cornerian ships as they gathered together over the planet. It was hard for him to feel sorry for his fleet when he saw that there were only twenty-five of their ships left. The space above the planet was clogged with the wrecks of sixty alien hulks, most of them being cornerian in design. Compared to them, his losses were minimal.

"Once the taskforce is ready, move it into orbit of the planet at a reasonable distance from the cornerian fleet." There was no time to grieve over their losses. There was much that still needed to be done. And there were only two who could do that. Matthias turned from the main section of the bridge and to where their guests had been sitting. All the cornerians were still in place and so was Liam. But he could see his nephew's hardened expression. He knew that Liam had served aboard the _Midsummer's Solace_for a little less than two years. No doubt he had lost many friends today.