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"Will do Ma'am!"

He yelled before leaping out of the dropship. Coop rolled when he dropped to the ground taking a little cover behind some brush. He turned back and saluted Linda. Then signaled his team to head to Belfast. Ducking and rolling unsure of the hostile forces they made their way to the friendly base.

Vincent couldn't hold back the soft yawn that escaped from his mouth, cursing himself for his own lack of sleep as he looked back once more at his personal screen. He felt slightly secure as he spent his time watching the ships that surrounded them through one of their external cameras. All he could do was wish that the Covenant came in fewer numbers than them, although that was almost never the case. He was about to return to his battle plans when an all too familiar sound leaked from the COM and whined in his ear, before an equally familiar voice was heard.

"This is Captain Martin Flagg of the UNSC Monterey, forgive the lack of video communication. Our COM System was damaged in a miniature confrontation on the outskirts of the Sigma VII system with some Free Lancers. I heard about your little" he paused, "encounter, on the Desert World from a little birdie I know. How's your headache my friend?"

He couldn't help but chuckle lightly, a sound the bridge crew rarely ever heard, at the thought of such a person being in command of a UNSC Marathon-class Cruiser. Knowing it's an open channel, he responded briefly while resting his elbow against the panel beside him and pressing the side of his face into his palm, somehow relaxing for once as he spoke. "I'm amazed you're still alive, Flagg..."

He listened to the man go on to describe briefly what he'd been through, before telling of his own predictions of how this particular battle would turn out. He nodded slightly as his head was pressed into his hand, not truly thinking about their lack of visibility toward one another and responding in the only way he could think at the harsh moment of reality. Honestly. "You're probably right. If Reach was any example, we'll probably be overrun with ease and be turned into molten bits of debris..."

Vincent couldn't help but let a bit of an optomistic view long forgotten creep into his voice as he continued. "Of course, it's not such a bad way to go. Better than being turned into walking meat-puppets by aliens. Besides, what else can we do? Like those who fought and died at Reach, we shall also go out while fighting for what little humanity remains in this universe." He didn't truly care what the crew who heard him believed as he spoke openly, wanting to know he'd told the truth before dying like he deserved to so long ago.

"'The hope that we carry, will carry us in return'" said the Captain. Flagg smiled lightly, "a young soldier once told me that, got transfered to the Armengald." He looked around the bridge feeling rather than seeing the agreement of the crew. Closing his eyes, he let his smile fade, and the battle fatigue show. "So far my hope has carried me this far. If not any further, than I'll take those Covies with me." "Sir, reports show that all marines have been deployed planet side" chimed Kiora, the AI. Captain Flagg nodded his head in silent approval, and gave himself a little slap to the face. He snapped back to reality quickly, and checked the diagnostics on the large screen in front of him.

"Vincent, good luck. May god bless you, if you believe in any of that s**t" said that Captain before adding, "see you in hell." He nodded to Johno at the COM Controls and he cut the line before Captain Millay could get a message back. "All right, heat the coils, every single one of them" barked the Captain. "But sir! We won't have enough power for the engines!" said Harry at the MAC Controls in protest to this new order. "We're not using the ******** engines!" barked Flagg. The Ensign looked scared for a moment, like a child just beat to the candy and given the evil eye, but did heat the coils. "We're at 10% each sir!" he yelled. Captain Flagg nodded his head and crossed his arms standing up. "Good, keep 'em charging."

[Edit: 6600 post.]

0563 HOURS, NOVEMBER 2, 2552 (MILITARY CALENDAR)
BETA SYGMA SYSTEM , IN ORBIT ABOVE BELFAST
ABOARD UNSC CRUISER PFLANZER
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Rear Admiral Roland Delaney stood on his bridge and gazed into a monitor displaying the space surrounding his ship, watching as his fleet fluttered around silently in preparation for what could be the end of them all. They'd already set out the 'Welcome Mat' for the Covenant, ready and willing to greet them properly the second they entered normal space. The small panel beside him lit up before a practically see-through figure appeared, hovering an inch above the holographic platform with a pale aura shadowing it ominously. The AI known as Akuma stared in the same direction as the Admiral, his long crimson coat moving behind him as if a breeze had somehow found its way into the ship. The rather normal entity-at least when compared with other 'Smart AIs'-stood there casually while performing over a hundred calculations concerning where the enemy would appear and applying his findings to their battle strategy.

The AI spoke in his usual calm tone, sounding like most of the UNSC personnel on the Pflanzer after long hours without sleep and lacking any enthusiasm. "We don't have much time left, Admiral. We've lost contact with several other outposts, and their current course has them coming straight for us.." Delaney nodded slightly, ignoring the fact that he couldn't see it as he felt there was no turning back for them as he replied in the same dull tone. "Can you estimate their strength?" The small person stood still for a moment before nodding and making several hand gestures as if to visually show it. "Of course. They're no where near the size of the force that hit Reach, but it's no recon mission. At least sixty ships counted so far, with most of them being larger warships.." The Admiral nodded before turning towards the SENSOR-OPS station where Lieutenant Branson sat, the AI nearby vanishing automatically. The man had been sitting there staring at that same screen for several hours at this point, though Delaney knew it couldn't be helped. He turned back to his command station and used his right hand to tap on several keys. A red blinking light appeared in the corner of the main screen and he let his index finger hover over the ENTER key, before closing his eyes and taking a deep breath as he heard Branson gasp and cry out to them. "Energy spike!"

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Empty space over fifty-thousand kilometers away from the UNSC fleet suddenly became unstable and wavered irregularly, a large area of black nothingness swirling into itself as dozens upon dozens of Covenant warships slipped into the system. Nearly eighty deadly vessels swarmed together as one, all of them appearing as futuristic insects eager to slaughter their enemy. Everything from lowly Frigates to fully loaded Assault Carriers advanced towards VerCrouse, their only purpose being to spill human blood.

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Delaney opened his eyes only to see his screen filled with enemies now, his finger still above the key as he did. "Numbers..." The perky Akuma appeared once more and stared at the wall of ships on the main monitor. "I'm counting eighteen Battle Cruisers, eight Assault Carriers, twenty-four Destroyers, thirty Frigates, and one unidentified vessel, most likely their flagship." The Admiral stared at the Covenant fleet a moment longer before letting his index finger fall, clicking on the ENTER key once and watching as the entire fleet was engulfed in a bright flash. "Now what are the estimates?"

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The Frigates and Destroyers of the Covenant front line were slammed by a sudden wave of pressure and nuclear power, the dozen or so HORNET nuclear mines providing the UNSC with a temporary brick wall to hide behind, even though it wouldn't last. Shields sizzled and failed before the hulls of ships they were supposed to protect boiled and bubbled before being vaporized, their technology not saving them from an explosion that could envelop and ravage even their mightiest ships. The clouds of destruction quickly cleared and revealed a sea of debris for the enemy to wade through in order to get to the humans, the powerful shields of the Cruisers and Carriers shimmering behind the glittering haze.

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Akuma grinned reflexively at his new calculations, feeling the automatic sense of satisfaction his personality was supposed to maintain toward the savage killing as he came up with a list of enemy survivors. "Seventeen Covenant Battle Cruisers, five Assault Carriers, sixteen Destroyers, eighteen Frigates, and that same flagship whose shield seems to have deflected the blast with ease. I'll try and figure out the force needed to break its shield by comparing its size with the power output of known Covenant engine systems." Delaney was slightly surprised they'd managed to destroy as many as they did with their first attack as he quickly went about planning their second assault. "Coordinate with every ship carrying a Shiva warhead and keep them in reserve for when the enemy gets closer...Firing them off now will just get them blown up halfway. Organize MAC firing time according to ship size. Have our Frigates target their own and do the same for their capital ships...Let's take those out." As he spoke he pointed towards the group of carriers towards the center of the pack, knowing they needed to be annihilated as soon as possible before the situation became even more like at Reach. The massive Super MAC guns their fleet was clustered around adjusted their aim slightly before firing five rounds of molten ferric-tungsten towards the heart of the Covenant threat, hoping to rip it out as soon as possible.

A large section of the enemy fleet broke off from the rest, the group aiming to go around the haze of shrapnel and hit the humans from the side, while the larger force plowed directly through it. The frigate Blinded Spirit only made it partly through the debris field before a super round punched cleanly through the vessel, crippling it immediately before causing it to explode into a vibrant display of futuristic destruction. The second group centered around the two CCS-class assault carriers Fortitude and Solitude, which were protected by the other smaller vessels. One destroyer, the Apparition, barely managed to block one round, which ripped through its nose and ruined its threatening capabilities as plasma and bits of its hull shot outward into space from the gaping wound it'd taken.

Only two of the five orbital stations were firing at the second group of vessels, the others still having to concentrate on the greater force as it cleared the shield-like debris, the sides of each ship glowing angrily with charged plasma. The human ships all recoiled around the same time as they let loose their own smaller MAC rounds, a wall of metal tearing through the space between them towards the enemy as it to discharged its form of destruction. Plasma and MAC trails lined the battle zone as the human projectiles found their targets first, impacting on the shields of the Covenant's smaller vessels and breaking through, before multiple other rounds finished them off. The larger cruisers would have to be saved for the orbital stations as they continued their assault, throwing one round after another at them as the wall of plasma neared the human fleet. The heated energy violently swirled and converged on the UNSC forces, knowing little could save them from the ultimate destruction that followed.

The Armengals positioned itself behind the ongoing fight, its engines turned to the planet, its nose pointed at the battle taking place. Eruptions of fire and plasma littered the space above the planet.
Another slug ripped from the MAC cannon of the Armengald and tore through space, impacting against a Covenant outer defence sheild.

The Captain scratched his head as he watched the Monteray evacuate pelicans from its launch bays. The gray blurrs made their way down to the planet through the atmosphere.
Through his perefrial vision, the Captain saw a Covenant ship making its way to the Monteray, prepaired to fire.
Acting quickly, he jumped into his battle stature.
"Recalclate our target. Lock on that b*****d who's stalkin our buddy the Monteray. Divet all power and load the shells into the cannon. Fire at will Lieutenant!"
The Lieutenant gave a perky 'Sir! Yessir!'

The lower decks of the almost dead Armengald shook as the Tungston Shelled MAC round launched forth, impacting the misection of the Covenant ship, fluttering its sheilds down and burrowing into its hulls.

The shock of the explosion ripped through the Armengald. The decks creaked and moaned at the strain of the force presented upon its Titanium-A hulls.

"Sir, we struck home! The Covenant ship is crippled and moving out of the Monteray's way."

He gave a swift nod. "Fire the rockets. LET EM FLY!"

The streaks of 34 missles littered space as they found their target: The outer hull of the Covenant vessel. The missiles created plumes of fire as the ship began to tumble from the force of the MAC gun.

"This is the Armengald, we got your back Monteray."