The orbital Super MAC guns fired—sixteen hits and sixteen Covenant ships were blasted into flame and glittering fragments.
The Covenant fleet split into two groups: half accelerated to engage the dispersing UNSC fleet; the remainder of their ships arced upward relative to the plane of the system. That group maneuvered to get a clear shot around the cloud of vaporized titanium from the refit stations. They were going to target the orbital guns.
Plasma charges collected along their sides.
The orbital guns fired. The super-heavy rounds tore through the clouds of ionized metal vapor, leaving whorls and spirals in the haze. They impacted eighteen incoming Covenant ships—ripped through them like tinfoil, with enough momentum to pulverize their hulls.
Six Covenant ships cleared the interfering cloud of vapor. They had a clear shot.
The Super MAC guns fired again.
Plasma erupted from the sides of the nearby Convent ships.
The Super MAC rounds hit the vessels and obliterated the enemy.
The streams of plasma, however, had already launched. They streaked toward the orbital guns—impacted and turned the installations into showers of sparks and molten metal.
When the haze cleared, fifteen of the Super MAC orbital installations remained intact... five had been vaporized.
The Covenant ships engaging the fleet turned and fled on an out-system vector.
The remaining UNSC ships did not pursue.
“Incoming orders, sir,” Lieutenant Dominique called out. “We’re being ordered to fall back and regroup.”
Keyes nodded. “Cortana,” he said, “can you give me damage and casualty estimates for the fleet?”
Her tiny holo image coalesced in the display tank. “Yes, Captain,” she said. She cocked an eyebrow at him. “Are you sure you want the bad news?”
Damage estimates scrolled across his personal screen.
They had taken heavy losses—an estimated twenty ships remained. Nearly one hundred shattered and burning UNSC vessels floated, lifeless, in the combat area.
Captain Keyes realized that he was holding his breath. He exhaled. “That was too close,” he murmured.
“It could have been closer, Captain,” Cortana whispered.
He watched the retreating Covenant. Once again—it was too easy. No... it had been anything but “easy” for the UNSC forces, but the Covenant were certainly giving up far earlier than in any previous battle. The aliens had never stopped once they engaged an enemy.
Except at Sigma Octanus, he thought.
“Cortana,” Captain Keyes said. “Scan the poles of planet Reach and filter out the magnetic interference.”
The view screen snapped to the Reach’s northern pole. Hundreds of Covenant dropships streamed toward the planet’s surface.
“Get FLEETCOM HQ online,” he ordered Lieutenant Dominique. “Copy this message to the Fleet Commander, as well.”
“Aye, sir,” Lieutenant Dominique said. “Channel connected.”
“Tell them they’re being invaded. Dropships inbound at both poles.”
Dominique sent the message, listened a moment, then reported, “Message received and acknowledged, sir.”
The Super MAC guns pivoted and fired—shattering dozens of the Covenant dropships in the shells’ supersonic wake.
The remains of the UNSC fleet split into two groups, moving toward either pole. Missiles and MAC guns fired and blasted the dropships to bits. The poles were punctuated with thousands of meteoroids as the bits of hull burned up in the atmosphere.
Hundreds must have gotten through, Keyes thought. Reach had been invaded.
“Incoming distress signal from FLEETCOM HQ planetside, sir,” Lieutenant Dominique said, his voice breaking.
“On speakers,” Captain Keyes said.
“There are thousands of them. Grunts, Jackals, and their warrior Elites.” The transmission broke into static. “They have tanks and fliers. Christ, they’ve breached the perimeter. Fall back! Fall back! If anyone can hear this: the Covenant is groundside. Massing near the armory... they’re—” White noise filled the speakers. Captain Keyes winced as he heard screams, bones snapping, an explosion. The transmission went dead.
“Sir!” Lieutenant Hall said. “The Covenant fleet has altered their outbound trajectory... . they’re turning.” She rotated to face the Captain. “They’re coming in for another attack.”
Captain Keyes stood straighter and smoothed his uniform. “Good.” He addressed the crew in the calmest voice he could muster. “Looks like we’re not too late after all.”
Ensign Lovell nodded. “Sir, ETA to rally point Zulu in five minutes.”
“Remove all missile safety locks,” Captain Keyes ordered. “Get our remote-piloted Longsword into the launch tube. And make sure our MAC gun capacitors and boosters are hot.”
Captain Keyes pulled out his pipe. He lit it and puffed.
The Covenant were, of course, after the orbital guns. Their suicidal frontal charge—while almost effective enough—had been just another diversion. The real danger was on the ground; if their troops took out the fusion generators, the Super MAC guns would be so much floating junk in orbit.
“This is bad,” he muttered to himself.
Cortana appeared on the AI pedestal near the NAV station. “Captain Keyes, I’m picking up another distress signal. It’s from the Reach space dock AI. And if you think this—” she gestured at the incoming Covenant fleet on screen “—is bad, wait until you hear this. It gets worse.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
0558 Hours, August 30, 2552 (Military Calendar)
UNSC Pillar of Autumn, Epsilon Eridani System
The mission had just encountered another snag.
It never entered the Master Chief’s mind that he would fail to achieve his objectives. He had to succeed. Failure meant death for not only himself, but for all the Spartans... every human.
He stood at the view screen in the cargo bay and reread the priority Alpha transmission Captain Keyes had sent down:
Alpha priority channel: To Fleet Admiralty from REACH Space Dock Quartermaster AI8575 (a.k.a. Doppler) /
/triple-encryption time-stamped public key: red rover red rover/
/start file/
IMMEDIATE ACTION REQUIRED
Item: Covenant data invasion packets detected penetrating firewall of REACH DOC NET. Counterintrusion software enacted. Resolution: 99.9 percent certainty of neutralization.
Item: Initialization of triple-screening protocol discovered the corvette Circumference/Bay Gamma-9/ isolated from REACH DOC NET.
Item: Covenant ships detected on inbound Slipstream vector intersecting Bay Gamma-9.
Conclusion: Unsecured navigation data on the Circumference detected by Covenant forces.
Conclusion: VIOLATION OF THE COLE PROTOCOL.
IMMEDIATE ACTION REQUIRED.
/end file/
He replayed the distress call from Reach’s groundside FLEETCOM HQ.
They’ve breached the perimeter. Fall back! Fall back! If anyone can hear this: the Covenant is groundside. Massing near the armory... they’re—”
The Master Chief copied these files and sent them over his squad’s COM channel. They had a right to know everything, too.
There was only one reason the Covenant would launch a ground invasion: to take out the planetary defense generators. If they succeeded, Reach would fall.
And there was only one reason why the Covenant wanted the ship Circumference—to plunder its NAV database—and find every human world, including Earth.
Captain Keyes appeared on the view screen. He held his pipe in one hand, squeezing it so tight his knuckles were white. “Master Chief, I believe the Covenant will use a pinpoint Slipspace jump to a position just off the space dock. They may try to get their troops on the station before the Super MAC guns can take out their ships. This will be a difficult mission, Chief. I’m... open to suggestions.”