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The Captain watched as several explosions dotted along the large Covenant vessel, pushing its shimmering shields past the breaking point as it stood its ground against the single human cruiser. Millay winced slightly as a bright flash engulfed the screen, separating the two ships as they fought. In the blink of an eye, however, a heavy metal slug shot through space and slammed violently into the mighty flag ship, watching the dense metal alloys shatter like glass under the harsh impact. The ship was actually pushed back from the blow, meaning it had to deal with the damage and attempt to right itself in order to continue fighting.

"Sir, it's confirmed. That's the Monterey engaging the enemy flag ship", Lieutenant Jennings reported as he eyed his screen. Vincent sighed at this new development as he watched the allied ship. He leaned closer to his monitor as he spotted tiny flickers of lights and exaust trickling away from the cruiser, zooming further to find they were escape pods. The ship didn't look terribly damage from this distance, so the thought of abandoning a cruiser so lightly seemed wrong. "Lieutenant Rockwell, get me a link to the Monterey right now." He simply nodded in response, never having heard the man speak outside of this bridge as he rapidly typed in commands. "COM link online, Sir."

With that, he quickly stood and stepped closer to the main screen as he activated his COM, observing as the relatively small cruiser faced off against the now shuddering enemy vessel. "This is Millay of the Titan. What exactly do you think you're doing, Flagg?"

"I'm ending this battle, Vincent, and I think you know how."

"Oh, is that what you're doing?" He watched as the cruiser's engines flared and it slowly began to push forward toward the still stunned enemy flag ship. "It looks more like you're going to waste a very valuable ship only to end up as the hero of this battle.." The distance between the two ships continued to lessen as he spoke to his fellow Captain, watching as other battles raged on between the Titan and the clash with the flag ship. The frigates Jarrett and Arago were dueling with an enemy destroyer, Archer Missiles streaking through space and colliding harmlessly on its protective bubble. The small warships sped toward the larger, more powerful enemy, firing all their weapons in a desperate attempt to take it down.

The destroyer's main weapon quickly began glowing with a rapid charge of energy before bursting forth from its hull, speeding onward and easily slamming into the Jarrett as it was in the process of trying to ram it. The heated plasma eagerly devoured the small ship, sending streams of molten metal and flames in all directions as it immediately veared off course, no longer in control of itself as the quickly burning ship flew off into the debris field. The crew is surely doomed, he thought as he idly watched this battle, not needing to watch as Flagg moved ever closer to the enemy menace.

The Arago fired its freshly charged MAC gun into the enemy, its shield flickering in resistance as it only damaged it slightly. To take it down fully, however, the smaller frigate willingly slammed itself into the destroyer at full speed. The front of the UNSC vessel shattered and crippled at an awkward angle as it absorbed the full blow, the destroyer coming out with no such scar. Its shield, however, was now gone. Fully realizing this tactic, the destroyer slowly attempt to push away from the frigate, but it didn't get far. Both ships were suddenly engulfed in a wave of heat and pressure, the nukes of the Arago being plenty to take them both to Hell. The explosion quickly vanished, thanks to the vacuum of space, leaving only more thick clouds of shrapnel and death to litter the space around VerCrouse.

The Armengald was dragging its a** by a wire. Not even its Engines were working to 40% as they should be. The ship was barely standing... and the same was for its crew.

Inside, Captain Resnick knew he was doomed. He knew that the outer hull would soon rupture and kill everyone. Meaning he had to do something fast.

"I need a COM to the Monterey..." The captain said in a worried tone.
"Aye. Patching through..."

"Flagg, are you still kicking?" He asked

A circut pannel blew a fuse to his left. "Yea... my ship is about ready for that pile in the sky...
My COM specialist just picked up a signal from the surface. I want you to get all the survivors and make a break for it. I'll make a hole..."

The Major stood in the hanger bay of the UNSC Monterrey. He was still wearing his gear, but his oak leaves were still in his pocket, not on his collar. As such, he was being given orders by Sergeants and the like. When he had stared them down and replaced his rank insignia, the looks on their faces had been priceless. He only wished he had brought a camera. It was always nice to see the look on an NCO's face when he realize he was giving orders to a Major. Regardless, Lipton did what he could to help move the survivors to the makeshift infirmary in the ship's main hold. He had been picked up by one of the last Pelicans out of Belfast. For a minute he had wanted to stay and watch the explosion, but the ride wasn't going to wait forever. He had been surprised to see a Spartan at the controls, but had said nothing. The less significant he was the better. So far he had seen nor heard anything about F-Company. Hopefully they had made it out alive. Being a commander sucked a**, but someone had to do it. Because of the damn misdrop, he had been out of the action and away from his men; while he knew that he probably wouldn't have been able to do anything to help them, he felt that had he been there with them, maybe he could have gotten them out alive. It was survivors guilt, it wasn't the first time he had experienced it, and he knew it wouldn't be the last. So he just wore a cheerful smile and helped as many people as he could. He was no medic, but he knew how to tie a field dressing and how to administer biofoam. And the contraband whiskey in his pack certainly didn't hurt his popularity among the wounded.

"All ships, move in formation bravo and ride my a**" said Randal into the COM set he wore. With the keyboard he typed in a few commands, each of them orders to different A.I.'s aboard the fleet he was taking with him. Several ships closed in on him, and the holoscreen displayed their names: UNSC Travesty, UNSC Columbia, UNSC Aegis Fate, UNSC Titan, and the UNSC Resolute. It was a total count of three frigates, one carrier, and one destroyer plus Flagg's Destroyer, the UNSC Monterey. "I'm relaying coordinates to your ship A.I.'s, Captain's" he said typing in a command on the keyboard. His fingers moved like lightning along the keys producing several strings of code. Live video of the Armengald was brought up on the right top corner of the holodoc.

Several reports over the COM system came letting him know that each ship was in position. "Initiate slip space transit on my mark." He received the green light from each of the ships, and he stopped for a moment to salute Captain Resnick knowing that he would miss his friend. Foot steps came from behind him and he heard the sound of garments and armor moving swiftly. Flagg turned to see Lieutenant Commander Hammer and Chief Petty Officer Spartan-019 standing at attention, eyes locked on the Armengald in a salute. Michael's eyes were glazed with tears, but he stood rigid and strong against his very emotions showing respect to a fellow member of the UNSC. The road of war is paved with heroes blood he thought, referring to a poem he had once read. Then another one came to him, one he was told to memorize by his drill sergeant, the very same person who had given him his pistol. "Sir, permission to speak?"

Flagg nodded his head, "you don't need my permission to speak here, Lieutenant." Michael nodded his head, his expression hard and seemingly angered. "I was once told that the road of war is painted with heroes blood. Well, a hero is someone that reaches high above the stars; grabs someone's wishes and prays that they'll go far. A hero never gives up on what they believe is true; they'll be all they can be and they'll do all they can do. A hero is someone who thinks highly of others; protects and provides for one another. A hero stands by you through thick and through thin; may not always get along but you're friends until the end. They're someone on whom you can always depend; to stay close by through life's troubles and winds."

A tear rolled down Michael's cheek and in unison, Spartan-019 and Michael saluted the Captain of the Armengald. Captain Flagg spoke briefly into the COM set "mark" before he stepped up to the Lieutenant who had just begun to cry. It was only a moment but they slipped into slip space just as the Captain reached out to Michael. He grabbed him and pulled him close into a hug and the Lieutenant cried his worries, his battle fatigue, and his sorrows into the Captain's shoulder. Spartan-019 stood at ease watching the scene unfold. He hadn't seen a show of emotion anything like this before, not since the very first day they woke up on Reach and they were told they were never going to see their families again. The Captain spoke up again, and it was one of the most inspiring things he had ever heard.

"Keep your head up high and stay strong because everyday you live with them by your side is a blessing."