Vandread Fan Fiction ❯ VanDread - Halo ❯ Baptism of Fire and Steel ( Chapter 7 )

VanDread - Halo

Disclaimer: Bungie own Halo and everything in the universe, and GONZO owns VanDread and everything in it. I naturally own neither so don't think I'm making any money out of this story.

Chapter 7

Baptism of Fire and Steel

< >: Thoughts

**************

The sounds of weapons fire was heard in the UNSC section of the Nirvana as several of the women chosen to be part of the ground combat operations forces under the Spartan's command were busy in the shooting range and getting their skills into sharpness and to keep themselves on edge.

The Spartan was also among them as they were busy test firing their UNSC weapons so as to keep the feel of the weapons in their hands and the methods of operation of the weapons fresh in their minds, the last thing the Spartan wanted them to do was forget all those lessons when the time came for them to get down and fight in a ground mission.

Joh-117 checked his MA5C ICWS Assault Rifle and reloaded a fresh clip into the weapon and then got up from his kneeling position and walked to inspect the female pirates under his command to see their weapons proficiency and as far as he could tell, they each had good promise as the women continued to shoot the targets. The Spartan then looked over the names of his selected NCOs to lead the ground teams in whatever missions that required them to head down into the battle-field, they had proven that they were better in some respects to the others and had some leadership skills that could help them in leading their respective fire teams.

Fire Team Alpha was led by Kara Hilden…and she proved to be a good user of the MA5C ICWS Assault Rifle and had a good head on her shoulders, meaning that as she had undergone the training, she had proven to be able to keep in track of her mission objectives. She had also been proven to be somewhat skilled with the M7 Caseless Submachine Gun and carried one with her as well.

Fire Team Bravo was led by Hilda Sera, she proved to have some skills with the SRS99 99D-S2 AM Sniper Rifle, and while not really the best shooter he had seen, she would do well enough as she had decided to have some of her fellow women in Bravo Fire Team to wield the SRS99 99D-S2 AM Sniper Rifles, along with BR55 HB SR Battle Rifles as well as the MA5C ICWS Assault Rifle.

Fire Team Charlie was led Sheena Conrad, she proved to have skills with both the BR55 SR Battle Rifle, the M7 Caseless Submachine Gun and the M90A CAWS Shotgun, and as such, her team seemed the best suited for a flexible role as a rifle group and close combat team, and that would certainly come in handy in certain battle field scenarios. They also had some skills with explosives as well.

Fire Team Delta was led by Carla Sandrel, she herself had been able to prove to be a good shot with the SRS99 99D-S2 AM Sniper Rifle, and with the newly created M7S Suppressed SMG, the rest of her team mates were proving to be better shots now that they got the training that they all needed to be an effective strike team.

Fire Team Eagle was led by Fiona Marlene, she had proven to be skilled in demolitions work and carried a MA5C ICWS Assault Rifle and wielded the M41 SSR MAV/ AW Rocket Launcher known to the UNSC Marines and Army as the `Jackhammer' or more affectionately the `Spanker'. She was not very accurate with the weapon in a broad sense, but her skill was noticeable and that was why she and her team had a few of these on hand.

And Fire Team Fox was led by Rena Yugami who was skilled with the BR55 SR Battle Rifle and the M6G Personal Defense Weapon System or the M6G Magnum. She also proved herself to be a skilled driver of the Warthog and that made her a good all around leader for her team and a good driver of some of the vehicles that they would soon be using in their operations in the near future.

The Spartan made sure that all the women had the needed skills and training to use all of the weapons, equipment, and vehicles of the UNSC to make them a bit more flexible in battle, and he planned to train them in the use of the newly manufactured weapons based from Covenant technology, namely the Tpe-25 Directed Energy Rifle or commonly known as the Plasma Rifle, the Type-25 Directed Energy Pistol or more known as the Plasma Pistol, the Type-51 Carbine, the Type-50 Sniper Rifle System or the Particle Beam Rifle, the Type-1 Energy Sword, the Type-2 Energy Weapon/Hammer, the Type-33 Guided Munitions Launcher or the Needler, and the Type-33 Light Anti-Armor Weapon or the Fuel Rod cannon.

The weapons were based on all the data that Cortana had in her mind and had downloaded into the manufacturing center of the UNSC section of the Nirvana…that and the aid of both the new age engineering technologies Cortana incorporated into the systems, and the Paeksis' energies and features allowed Cortana the ability to truly master their creations, though the Covenant technology was still having the same weakness, and that was the fact that most of their plasma based weapons still needed to be recharged. Cortana created power recharge stations on different sections of the UNSC section and the Paeksis had somehow installed recharging stations for the weapons on the Nirvana as well on different areas. The Covenant weapons were pretty much the same except that the Paeksis was able to shed small pieces of itself to form the basis ammunition for the Needler and from his years of fighting the Covenant, the Spartan knew that this weapon deserved respect from him and all of the UNSC who had either used it, or were shot at by it as well.

More than one UNSC trooper in his or her early days had been confused by the Grunt constructed weapon, and learned quickly the deadly power in the weapon itself. The homing crystals were totally alien to the UNSC when such items were indeed taken from Covenant bodies and studied, there was nothing like it and it made most UNSC `Smart' munitions look like child's toys as the weapons were able to move and track their foes with little to no trouble through heat and organic signatures. He and the others had used them before and they knew the power of the Needler. One crystal might not do much damage…but when a bunch of these weapons were able to bury themselves into the flesh or body of any opponent before the user, the needles would then detonate in a massive blast that was able to kill even the toughest fighter easily…and even grenades were not safe as the weapon could easily detonate them as well…further adding lethality to the weapon. It was known that before the Needler was used…the crystals that made the basis for the ammunition of the weapon were used in the function of daggers and knives by Covenant troops.

When the crystals exploded into the flesh of the victim they hit, the victim would suffer considerable tissue damage and when it large numbers, the results were deadly and anyone caught in the blast were also damaged by it as well. It had the power to punch through shields of both his Mjolnir Armor and that of the Elites as well, though the weapons had difficulty taking out Jackal Shields. The new versions that he had used were more powerful than the previous models, showing that despite their disdain for his species, the Covenant had taken some lessons to heart and upgraded only a few of their weapons to be more flexible in combat.

The Paeksis version was by all respects, the same, but it appeared to have in increased homing quality and had slightly more explosive power than the original and appeared to have the ability to be able to further boost the damage power of the needles, though at the expense of most of it's ammunition type's unique tracking ability, but this made it more effective in damaging a single target, and if there was one thing the Spartan had learned over the years, was that anything had a purpose as well.

The second weapon was the Carbine, he had known it's potential and had more than once managed to evade attacks from Jackal Marksmen armed with them. The weapon was among the few weapons in the Covenant arsenal that used projectiles than their dominant plasma weapons. It had a scope and was considered by several UNSC users to be the Covenant counterpart of the Battle Rifle. It used an unknown type of radioactive substance as it's base ammunition in a 18 round sized cylindrical magazine that worked like a stripper style magazine and in the hands of the Covenant, while not very prolific was lethal indeed. It also had a lethal effect on the Flood and their many forms, along with the newly modified Plasma Rifle. And unlike the Battle Rifle…it was effective on shields of all known types due to it's energy based ammunition.

The new version made by Cortana was able to also used Paeksis energy as it's base, and used crystals to form the ammunition base…but it had a higher amount of energy to go with it, further adding to it's overall damage power as a weapon, and this time, unlike the yellowish-green energy trail, it was replaced with a deep blue energy trail.

He had admitted that the weapons which they could now use were very impressive and could certainly come in handy in the missions soon to come. He however made sure to remind the women of the need to learn how to truly use all the weapons in their arsenals, namely with the newly issued Covenant based weapons that Cortana was introducing into their arsenals as these were new and very effective weapons. He then looked over the reports and decided to call it a night for the women.

“Cease Fire!”

The women followed his orders and stopped shooting at the targets in the shooting range and watched as the battered targets were replaced with fresh ones. They turned to face the Spartan as he went over to the score board to see who had the better shots and then placed the names on the board, and the women were happy that they all had good scores.

“Not bad…that's it for today…you can go back to you're posts, don't forget to keep you're data-pads and chatters close and check for viruses in the data-drives.”

“Yes Sir!”

As the women placed their weapons in the racks nearby and left the range, the Spartan took the time off to head for the gym for some training, and as soon as he got there, he was surprised to see Cortana training as well, lifting a few weights and she was dressed in a tight body suit style sleeveless tank-top that showed her strong and muscular arms and her own toned stomach. The now human AI also wore a pair of fingerless training gloves on her hands and training shoes on her feet and a pair of tight fitting training pants as well.

The overall picture caused a stir in the Spartan's mind a bit and he wondered just why he suddenly looked at Cortana more intensely. He put those thoughts aside and walked over to Cortana.

“Working out the stress?”

Cortana smiled a bit as she placed down the weights as she faced the Spartan.

“Yeah, I figured I needed to work out a bit once in a while…and I have to admit, feeling the strain physically is rather different.”

“Shouldn't you be working with the Register at this time of the day?”

Cortana nodded as she took a towel offered by the Spartan who took it from the rack nearby and offered it to his long time friend, charge, and companion.

“I was, but Miss Gascogne gave me some time off for myself and I decided to take it here.”

“By working out?”

“Yeah, hey John?”

“Yes?”

“Care to spar with me?”

This caught the Spartan somewhat off guard, he knew that even without his Mjolnir Armor on, he was by far more powerful than even the strongest human, and he could kill even with normal moves and attacks even if he pulled back his strength and it could be even worse for his opponent , having recalled how he had killed three ODSTs in a match before…and the idea of him doing the very same thing to Cortana made him VERY uneasy.

“I don't think that's such a good idea Cortana.”

“Are you referring to the time you had killed the three ODSTs John?”

“How did you…?”

“Know about it? You know me John, I do my research…that and the fact that I was still an AI at the time and was allowed to choose you to be my protector kind of helped. I know why you're hesitant John, and I understand, but I am a human being now…and as much…as much as I owe you a lot for keeping me alive and helping me…I have to at least be able to defend myself…just in case I wind up in a situation when you're not around. I happen to know a lot about martial arts from the time I was an AI.”

“So why do you want to spar with me then?”

“Because I want to learn how use them…and I doubt that I can find anyone to help me with the training since all of them have other priorities and that means that you're the only one who can teach me, I know you can do it John, and I know that you can control you're natural strength, you've done it before, and you can do it here as well.”

John-117 saw from Cortana's expression that she was not going to take no for an answer and despite being higher in rank than her, he couldn't help but decide to comply, and she did speak the truth, he did know how to control his strength and speed, just like the others and he knew that it would be better that he took off his Mjolnir as well.

“Fine, just give me a minute.”

Later, the Spartan was now bare of his Mjolnir Mark 6 and was dressed in a set of gym clothes which comprised of a grey shirt with no sleeves and grey training pants with shoes as well. The two then sat down on the mat and then began to meditate, namely using the calming and meditative styles of Zen.

Zen was a school of Mahayana Buddhism that taught to it's practitioners the value practice and experimental wisdom in the meditation known as zazen-in, known as the attainment of awakening, in this state, the practitioners discarded theoretical knowledge and the study of religious texts and rather rely on individual experiences of one's own true nature.

Dr. Catherine who developed a lot of smart AIs used her knowledge of this well in her missions to stop rampant AI, and while he and the other Spartans were not religious people, they did find the meditations offered by Zen to be very calming before and even after a battle when they were in a safe zone. He knew for a fact that Kelly-087, and Linda-058 were practitioners of Zen as well.

As they were able to calm themselves, he and Cortana got up and began to spar, with him providing her advice on certain aspects of her knowledge of martial arts which might not have gotten her attention before. She nodded and thanked him for the corrections as they continued to spar. It was there that the Spartan noted that while she was a human being, Cortana's body was somewhat different.

Apart from her metabolic rates, and near perfect physical form, Cortana's human body had increased strength, stamina, agility, endurance, and dexterity. Not to the level of the Spartan, but near the level of a highly trained and conditioned UNSC Marine. That however didn't mean that she was invincible, as Cortana did get a few bruises aches once in a while as they sparred with one another, however, she was able to fight back with greater strength and force as they continued. And keeping to his promise, the Spartan did pull back most of his normal augmented strength and avoided hurting Cortana.

Cortana fought with a number of martial arts, namely Karate, Taekwondo, Muay Thai, Boxing, and Aikido…not in the same degree as his fellow Spartan Li- 008 who was the best among them in martial arts as he had trained extensively in the fighting arts for years on Chiron, the extreme environment training facility near Mars, and was also their chosen zero-gravity combat specialist. The former Ai didn't have Li's skills in the martial arts, but she certainly more than made up for it with skill and determination.

An hour or two later, they took a break and the Spartan began to tell her what were the tricks of martial arts, while he wasn't highly skilled in martial arts as Li was, he more than made up for that with the balanced training he got from his days as a Spartan. As he talked with Cortana, he wondered just what else was going to happen today. They had not encountered the Harvesters in a while…with the exception of several skirmishers that were beaten back easily by the Dreads and the Vanguard Hibiki piloted. However, he had a feeling that things were about to get interesting soon enough.

**************

In the bridge…

“Captain…I'm picking up what appears to be some sort of pod.”

Amarone reported as she and the others began to lock on what they had been able to locate. They had detected the signal as they were all doing routine recon work to keep an eye out for any Harvester forces that might decide to attack them. However, they detected the pod instead.

“Is it a message pod?”

“I believe so…but it's not from Megele or from Tarak since the signal's not from either our world or that of the men Captain.”

“That must mean that it's from another human colony then…we might as well bring it in and see what's inside of it, anything else Amarone?”

Buzam asked as she and the others finally got a good look at the pod. It appeared to be a lot larger than the ones she had sent to Tarak and Megele, and it appeared to be heavily armored as well, and that was not normally seen in normal message pods at all.

“From our scans of the pod, it appears to be heavily protected for various situations and appears to have some sort of shield that blocks it from being affected by electromagnetic waves, ion storms, and cosmic radiation, whatever is in that pod, the people must really want it's contents of be safe.”

“Hmm…it must have a high profile message then. That means that we have to get it now…send out Gascogne in the Dreki and the Dreads, and that young kid Hibiki out to get it. Once it's in our hands, we need to find out just who owns this pod and the message in it, and why do they want to protect it so badly.”

Magno said as she also looked at the pod and wondered just what sort of message the pod carried that warranted such protection.

“Yes Captain!”

**************

As the crew gathered to hear the message as they were all called in by Magno, they were in their stations and were already sitting down, expecting this to be another warning about the Harvesters, however as they all gathered, they saw that it was a very serious message as a young man appeared with a large gash over the side of his face near the right eye and several gashes on his uniform…the background was filled with fire and ruined components, stating that the message was taken either in a ship or a base.

“I…I…Don't have much time left right now…I've locked…myself inside the…sub command bridge of the Bounder…our ship. My name is Quinn Caleb….our ship…was part of…a relief convoy…carrying medical…supplies. We were…taking a special route through this…sector of space…but we…we were ambushed by…hordes of unknown fighters…we…tried to evade them as…our convoy was not equipped for fighting…”

The message continued as the sounds of explosions were heard, along with the sounds of gunfire…and shouts and screams as Quinn spoke once, apparently trying to stem the flow of blood in his body as he had a massive internal injury…but failed as a stream of blood flowed from his mouth.

“The…aliens…lured us into a trap…some kind of barrier…or net captured our convoy…we couldn't escape…and we were attacked at full force…their forces tore through us…and we saw…we were not…the only victims…entire wrecks were nearby…others had suffered this attack apart from us. They sent their…soldiers into our ships…”

The man began to get hysterical with only small amounts of control in his body as he spoke once more…

“I saw them…their soldiers…more alien than men…they killed the others…but did something…horrible. They…they tore them apart…even when they were dead…taking their…their organs as if…we were nothing but crops to be harvested…they even did it to the wounded and still alive…oh god…I could hear their screams in my head…”

“We fought as best…we could…but my…friends…my comrades…they…they didn't make it…Those aliens…they just tore them apart…right before my eyes…I got hit too…plasma burns on…my back…bleeding to death out here…going soon into…shock. I recorded…the path we took, from the nav-com and was told by…the captain to send this message…and I made it here…we…we tried to abandon ship…the pods…their fighters…out in space just took them. I…I don't think we are going to make it…”

The sounds of an explosion were heard in the audio and the man named Quinn gave his final words.

“I…we…we're not going…to make it, none of us…are. Please…if anyone gets this message…stay away from this path at all costs…or…”

The entire images was suddenly filled with explosions as the crew saw one of the walls open and out from the massive hole came one of the same Harvester units that had attempted to invade the Nirvana before and that allowed the pirates to know just who the aliens were that attacked the ship. Quinn barely had time to even lift up his sidearm to defend himself before he fell down through massive blood loss…and he was about to be gutted by the Harvester Shock Trooper…but that was the end of the message.

The crew of the Nirvana was silent and realized just what sort of danger they were soon going to get towards. Magno was the first to take action as she ordered the bridge crew to begin accessing the charts stored in the message and to try and find out what was their best course of action.

**************

Later…

In the Conference Room, things have gotten underway, with the charts they were able to get from the message pod and from the maps that they had now, they began to look at the route they were currently taking and much to their shock, they discovered that they were taking the exact same route that the doomed convoy had taken as the route was between a moon and a large planet.

“We'll have to find an alternate route before we get there then. Is there any other path we can take BC?”

Buzam nodded and took the controls and began to show the other routes.

“There are Captain, but they don't seem too promising in the least, the one path we can take appears to be near the star in the system where the trap is supposed to be located, but the area will no doubt be under heavy guard by the Harvesters…so we're sure to be detected…I have also asked Cortana to offer her report as she had sent out several of her Clarion spy drones ahead to gauge the situation.”

Magno turned and faced the holo-tank that was now in the Conference Room as Cortana appeared in her AI form. The former UNSC AI turned human woman had entered her AI form and had sent out the drones per Buzam's request to scan the area without endangering the Nirvana. She had been able to get enough information as she made her report. The AI form of Cortana then took over as she began to show the images she had been able to get from her Clarion Spy Drones.

“I see…what do you have to report to us Cortana?”

“The situation's not looking very good Captain, the Harvesters have a sizable blockade force in the system and the star itself is an orange giant star with a very active surface and is putting out a lot of radiation and energy that could very well gum up our sensors and leave us vulnerable to attack if we take the route. If we take it…we might very well be blinding ourselves and we could be in serious trouble if the Harvester get the jump on us when we're very much deaf, dumb, and blind.”

“So that means if we try to take the other route…we run the risk of going in there like three blind mice.”

“And right into the waiting arms of the Harvesters…what's the other route?”

“The next one will be risky either way…we could try to evade the system and find a much better route…but we will no doubt be detected as soon as we hit the sensor network the Harvesters have set up…my Clarion Spy Drones had a limited stealth mode so they didn't last very long hidden, but the Harvesters have picket forces in other parts of the system nearby and they could very well alert the others to our presence…and there is the chance we could be herded into the trap if we try to escape.”

Gascogne looked at the images and thought about it. She then got an idea as she looked at the Spartan who was also there in the Conference Room. She knew about his training of the pirate forces and while what she had in mind was rather risky, they were already running out of options. If they tried to take another route, the Harvesters would no doubt send their full blockade force on them and herd them into the trap they had in the area and they would be in serious trouble…but she then decided to test the theory.

“Cortana…how much information do you happen to have on the nearby planet?”

“I happen to have picked up some ground images of the planet Miss Gascogne…and it seems we've found the weapon the Harvesters are using on the fleets. There appears to be a massive facility on the surface on the planet…and it's ideally located on a continent that as of now is in the path. The planet must have a very slow rotation frame since it's still the morning there. The planet has a breathable atmosphere for humans…but isn't exactly heaven on earth…it's mostly arid desert and a few mountainous areas as well…no signs of habitation either. The facility appears to be some sort of transmission center…the same type that transmits power to orbiting satellites and there appears to be debris in the area of the planet as well. They LOOK like natural space debris…but there are traces of signals coming from them…so that would mean that the facility is some sort of weapons platform.”

Buzam thought about it and nodded with the direction of the conversation.

“Those satellites must be able to create some sort of energy net or field that holds a ship or a few ships in place, allowing the Harvesters to send in their forces to harvest the crew inside. If we take those out…we might have a chance to break free from the trap…however I don't think the Harvesters will give that advantage up without a fight, so no doubt they will have some powerful forces in the area to protect those transmitters.”

Magno then had an idea as she recalled the information she had been able to get from Cortana previously at from what she had seen of the video records from the Master Chief's recorders, they just might do the trick.

“Cortana…can you're Long-swords be able to operate in the atmosphere of a planet?”

“They can Captain and they are capable of delivering ground based heavy munitions.”

“Can they attack the installation and disable it long enough for our forces to break through the defense forces of the satellites and take them out?”

“That's the problem Captain…the Spy Drones detected a massive shield that protects the installation…no doubt from aerial or space based attacks. Even if we used the MAC guns, we might not have enough power to punch through the shield. They still don't have the ammunition to begin with right now and wasting the few precious rounds that we've managed to make so far would be too dangerous.”

“Just how powerful is a MAC Gun?”

“It depends on the power, weight of the slug, and the target, a basic MAC gun can fire a 600 ton slug of depleted uranium or tungsten. And the Super MAC used in Orbital Defense Platforms can fire a 3000 ton slug, and if you want to know how deadly a MAC gun can be to a ground target…let me put it this way…The 600 ton round fired from a MAC gun at the speed of light can crash right through the crust of a planet and have the force of a nuclear warhead due to the sheer kinetic force it could unleash on it's target.”

Cortana then spoke as she showed them the planet and began to run a simulation of the Nirvana moving in and attempting to use the MAC guns of the Nirvana.

“Even with me guiding the MAC guns' firing computers we have to keep the ship stable enough to fire the rounds accurately, and that can a danger if the Harvesters manage to swarm us and send their soldiers down here to invade us. And if that installation manages to create the energy net we won't be able to maneuver well enough to either escape or get another firing angle if we tried using the MAC guns.”

“Is there any way to take out the shields?”

“There appear to be massive energy towers in the area around the complex, and judging by the massive energy fluctuations that are coming from them, they must be the ones creating the force field that protects the installation. There also appears to be a large number of high grade power plants there as well…no doubt those power plants provide both the shield and the installation a large portion of it's power supply. If we take those out, we might have a chance to either bomb it with the Long-swords or if you really want to…with the MAC guns…but as long as the shields are active…there's no way we can do either.”

The officers thought this over and then Magno and Buzam shared a look to one another and a silent conversation took place as they both looked at the Spartan, John-117 saw that and already knew just what they were looking at him for.

“You want me to lead the ground teams down there to take out the installation am I correct?”

“Yes Master Chief…but I want to know if you personally believe that they are ready for this kind of mission.”

Magno knew for a fact that the Spartan had a limited time to train the forty-two women who formed the core of his fire teams and what she was asking was a very tall order for them as they were only given two and half months worth of training…but considering their situation at this point and time, they didn't have much in terms of options. The Spartan knew that as well as his tone of voice told them just that.

“To be honest…I don't think they are ready Captain, especially for something of this magnitude.”

“Buzam noted that and had to agree with the Spartan, their ground teams were good in training but they were not yet ready for a ground battle, let alone a live one…but she had to admit that considering their choices, they were not going to get much leeway on the matter. It was either they found a way to escape or wind up in the trap that claimed Quinn and his comrades.

“I'm afraid we don't have much choice Master Chief, we need to take out that installation, but we can't do it with that shield in the area…our Dreads were designed solely for space combat and were not meant to fight on the surface of a planet, if they did, they would be unable to leave the planet afterwards. And with the shield active, a bomb run with the Long-swords would be worthless…and using the MAC guns is out of the question as we would be too vulnerable to attacks from the Harvesters and their forces.”

The Spartan remained silent as he digested the situation carefully and weighed his options, after a few more moments…he gave his answer to their current situation.

“I'll get them ready for combat.”

**************

The crew members were surprised to hear the voice of the UNSC Spartan as he began to call out to his fire teams, calling them to assemble quickly in the UNSC section for suiting up and briefing for a new mission.

The women who formed the core fire teams looked at one another and wasted little time as they heeded the orders of their commander and moved to the UNSC section. They arrived to see the Spartan and Cortana who was still in her AI form tactical plans and the Spartan turned to face them all.

“Get you're gear up and ready…we've got a mission.”

The women were stunned as they were expecting another training drill from the Spartan, but their training told them not to waste time gaping and asking questions as they quickly made their way to the lockers and they began to head for the private rooms, to change out of their normal clothes and get dressed into their fatigues. As they were doing this, Cortana and the Spartan were already getting their gear and equipment ready for the coming battle as they wanted all of their options available as this would be the first ground mission they would be in.

The Spartan had no problems with the idea of going to the surface of a world and fight there…he had done it more times than even he could count, but this was going to be the very first time he would be the leader of an entire band of raw recruits he himself had personally trained. He felt more at home working with seasoned UNSC Marines, and his fellow Spartans, this was certainly something he was not in the least prepared for just yet, and he was worried that his training might not be enough and he would have to do his best to make sure that the women under his command would come back to the Nirvana alive and safe, but he sucked it up and got down to the brass tacks of the job.

He turned to spoke Hibiki as the Tarak youth came into the UNSC section, wearing his normal clothes and bare of the Marine Body Armor that he had been given as a gift as he had decided to wear it only if he was going out with his Vanguard on a mission.

“What is it Hibiki?”

“I heard you've got a mission on a planet Chief…you want me to come along too? I can really be of some help!”

“I wish I could have you come with us Hibiki, but I need you here to work with the women and their Dread forces, I know you're Vanguard can handle a ground mission, but we can't afford that right now…you're Vanguard and the VanDreads it can form will be the key to beating the Harvesters here in space. Besides…this is something I can do well enough, the crew of the Nirvana will need you here, do you understand?”

Hibiki was not happy with not being able to accompany his idol, teacher, mentor, and to his own admission, something of a brother or father figure. However he had learned enough from the Spartan to know that what the Spartan had said was very much true as they needed the VanDreads in space and he was eager to fight the Harvesters this time.

“I understand Master Chief.”

“Good, remember you're training and you're lessons from me, and you'll do all right, make sure to follow the orders of the Dread leader, remember, despite the two of you not getting along, you all need to work together to win this battle.”

“I understand Master Chief…good luck out there and may the Gods of Tarak protect you.”

“Thanks…good luck and good hunting out there to you as well, may God watch over you.”

The two men, mentor and student saluted each other with respect as Hibiki left the room, planning to make the Spartan proud of him and prove to himself that he was a capable pilot and member of the crew, not mention a man of Tarak.

“I see the boy's grown up somewhat.”

Cortana said with a smile as she looked at Hibiki as he left the room. The Spartan merely shrugged as he got back to work, but not before he spoke about Hibiki.

“He'll do just fine.”

**************

The women were already getting dressed into their combat fatigues and as they did so, they quickly slid in their dog tags to the reader devices that were logged into their chosen lockers, allowing them to access their body armor and chosen personnel equipment. As they were dressed in their new combat fatigues, and began to strap on their body armor, they then grabbed their helmets and got them on. They then went over to the weapon racks, and out came their weapons and they grabbed their weapons and then reached for the ammunition depots and grabbed as many magazines to their weapons, along with whatever weapons and supplies they needed as they moved to the meeting hall.

The Spartan was there waiting for them all and then as they got together, with the Fire-Teams' NCOs already in front of them as they waited for the information to be given to them about their new mission. The Spartan then began to show them the information that the Clarion Spy Drones had been able to bring in as Cortana began to gather all the details and showed them on the hologram planning table.

“As you all are now aware, we have recovered a message pod and you have no doubt seen the message…and you know what happened to the person who was in the message. The Harvesters have set up a trap in the path we are currently taking to head back to Megele and Tarak, and have already claimed a large number of victims on their list…we're going to make sure we're not going to be on that list.”

The images turned to the planet and the installation in question as the Spartan began to speak once more, after allowing the women to see just what they were about to assault with their weapons and their training for the past two months.

“We've managed to locate the installation that is the heart of the weapon system that the Harvesters are using in this trap. As you no doubt can see, this installation is the one we have to take out in order to make sure that their trap is destroyed.”

“Can't we bombard it from Space sir?”

The Spartan shook his head and turned to Cortana.

“There are several key factors that go against the option of orbital bombardment in this mission. Cortana will be the one to elaborate, so pay attention to her as she gives out the tactical data.”

The fire teams and their NCOs paid close attention to the AI as she took over the tactical briefing and they knew that the woman was not the kind to lie about an important mission objective. They knew that their commander trusted the woman very well and that they could trust here as well.

“The installation is protected by a powerful shield system that renders orbital bombardment to be ineffective, that and the dangers of us being overwhelmed and being captured at the same time makes the attempts at orbital attacks unwise. However, there is a good side to the situation. The shields appeared to be generated by several structures that surround the installation.”

The images moved from the massive installation that was shaped like a dome with hexagonal panels on the top of it and several smaller towers on it in the position of an octagon, to the tower structures near it that formed the shielding system. They resembled massive towers with three throngs on them that rotated and released massive waves of energy outward and spread out in a 180 degree arc over the area and connected with the energy waves being released by the other towers, forming the shield that covered the entire installation.

“The good news we have is that the shield apparently is designed to fend off massive attacks from space and aerial attack…not from the ground as the shielding in that area appears to be of a weaker power level than the energy used to protect the upper sections of the shields. This however is yet to be verified since the Clarion Spy Drones were not designed for travel in the atmosphere of a planet. This is our best option as with the shield protecting it from space or aerial attack, there is no way either the Nirvana or the Long-swords can launch a successful attack on the installation with it online. Taking out one of the towers should bring the shield down. But we have to then target these installations next…they are the power plants of the installation.”

The images then were to several large banks of strange rectangular structures that had glowing bluish energy in them, and it appeared to have special connectors to the installation itself, and it appeared to be underneath the protective field of the shield towers that also guarded the installation.

“These structures are the ones that provide the place with it's main power requirements. We don't know the exact type of fuel they are using, but we do know that a vast portion of the power needed to run the installation and the shield system is coming from these power plants. If we take them out, and the installation as well…the Nirvana will have a clear run out of the system once we punch through the Harvester lines. That's the key reason we will be taking the attack route on the ground.”

The Spartan took over and spoke to the assembled fire teams.

“Once we take out one of the Shield Towers, our objectives are to disable the power plants and destroy the installation. The Dreads and the Long-swords under Cortana's control will fly cover for us in the Albatross while we're in deep space and once we've hit the atmosphere, the Long-swords will provide us air support and help us destroy the installation once one of the shield towers are deactivated.”

The Spartan then spoke to the fire teams before him in a serious tone.

“Make one thing clear, this installation is of prime tactical and strategic importance to the Harvesters, so it will not be surprising if we will be encountering resistance down there…and it will no doubt be heavy resistance. You will not be going down to an uninhabited world but one no doubt used and claimed by the enemy.”

The Spartan then took out his MA5C ICWS Assault Rifle and loaded it with a fresh clip of ammunition, and this time, the women saw him load real rounds into the weapon, showing to them that this was no longer a training exercise, but the real thing, and the Spartan's next words made that very clear.

“This is what you all have been training for in the past two and a half months and you will be facing the enemy that you have been training to face. This time, the energy bolts and bullets will not be set to stun or be blanks…but be live ammunition that can kill.”

The Spartan then looked at each of the NCOs for each Fire Team that he had been training for missions such as this, he could tell that they were afraid and anxious. And he couldn't blame them for that, as this will be the very first time they will be fighting the Harvesters for real, and there was a chance that they would not come back alive or unharmed from this kind of combat.

“The lives of your fellow fire team members are in your hands, as your life will be in theirs. Do what you have to go make sure all of you get back safely. Watch you're lines of fire and keep cool, pick you're targets and conserve you're ammunition, don't waste you're shots at all.”

The Spartan then locked in his Assault Rifle behind him and gave the signal for the women under his command to get ready for combat as they all headed towards the Hanger Bay. Once they were in the area, they boarded the Albatross and the Spartan went to work and got the ship ready for departure. The Albatross was fully stocked with extra weapons, explosives, ammunition, spare parts, vehicles, body armor, medical items and more for this operation, and would serve as both their mode of transportation, their base of operations, and their ride off the planet once the mission was deemed successful…and with the long range uplink between him and Cortana, he and the rest of the fire teams would have a chance to finish this mission and protect their ship and fellow pirates from any possible attack.

The Spartan and the pirate Fire Teams were about to go planet side.

**************

As the Dreads and the Long-swords were leaving the Nirvana, the orders of the Dreads were to provide covering support, along with Hibiki's Vanguard for the ground teams to land on the surface of the planet safely and accomplish their objectives. They were then joined by the Albatross and the assembled force made their way to the planet with the Nirvana close behind.

The Dreads and the Long-swords would have to distract the Harvester blockade force in space to make sure that they didn't intercept and destroy the Albatross as it would make it's way through the atmosphere and land on the surface as it had no means of defense.

Meia watched as the strike teams were on their way, she wished her comrades in the Albatross good luck and silently vowed that if the Spartan failed to make all of them come back alive and safe, then may heaven help her, she would make him pay…though as to how she would do that…

She tabled those thoughts aside for the moment and focused on leading her forces and providing support for the Nirvana. She still was a bit angry at not being part of this mission with the others, and making sure that they were all right, but she had little authority in the matter of the ground forces as the UNSC Spartan was given full command of the operation.

“All Dreads will form a defensive wall to stop any of the Cube Fighters from attacking the Albatross until they make contact with the planet's atmosphere. The Long-swords will then take over and provide support fire for them. We'll keep the Harvesters occupied until they have completed their mission on the surface.”

“Roger!”

“Do you think they're ready for the mission they have on their hands?”

Jura asked her leader as the Albatross was deep in their ranks, the blonde Dread pilot had already seen how much of a leader the Spartan was in combat, being under his temporary command at one point in the mission on the desert world, but that certainly didn't stop her from worrying about the safety of her fellow women.

“I don't know…but we'll have to wait and see if that Spartan can truly lead well.”

Barnette looked at the Albatross and snorted, still miffed at being under the command of the seven foot tall armored male. She didn't like taking orders from a man, but there was indeed something about the Spartan that told her straight up, not to argue with him.

Hibiki listened to their chatter and sighed as he ran through his Vanguard's systems. The Spartan told him to also make systems checks on his Vanguard in order to fix any left over bugs in the systems to make sure he didn't become a victim of circumstances and bad luck. As he did so, he then got a communication call from Dita and took it.

“Hi Mr. Alien, how are you doing?”

Hibiki sighed a bit, still annoyed with the Mr. Alien reference that Dita placed on him, but he decided to reply back to her question, after all, she did deserve an answer to her question and when a man is asked a question, he had to answer.

“I'm feeling fine right now, eager to go after the Harvesters once more and beat the snot out of them.”

Dita smiled a bit as she liked Mr. Alien's enthusiasm, and wondered on another matter, namely on how the Green Alien would do once he and the others were on the surface of the planet being used by the bad aliens.

“Will Mr. Green Alien be all right Mr. Alien?”

“The Master Chief will be fine, he knows how to lead others in a ground fight than anyone I know of back home, so don't worry about him and the others, worry for the Harvesters when they meet him again.”

“Can the chatter you two…we've got incoming Harvester contacts heading right for us, they'll be right on us in exactly thirty minutes so look sharp!”

“Got it Leader!”

“Don't worry about me!”

Meia then contacted the Albatross as they were now at an acceptable distance from the planet. The Dread squadron leader knew that they had to hurry as she began to check her Dread's weapons systems. The Nirvana would not be far behind and the Dreki would be on standby to replenish the Dreads in combat, and at least with Hibiki and his vanguard around, they could use the VanDreads to back up their attacks on the Harvesters just in case they need an extra punch to break through, as much as she disliked the idea of merging with the Vanguard, she knew that the VanDreads were their best tactical weapons in this kind of fight.

As soon as she got into contact with the Spartan she immediately spoke to him in her usual business-like manner.

“The Harvesters will be here in thirty minutes, we'll slow them down until you're ground forces are in position to strike onto the surface of the planet, once that's done, you're on your own until you need us to escort you all back from the planet's surface.”

“I understand, Spartan-117 out.”

In the Albatross, the Spartan reached the intercom to all the assembled female pirates who were ready and nervous as he spoke to them all, just as the Long-swords were the first to breach the planet's atmosphere. He was currently in the cockpit of the Albatross with Cortana acting as guidance computer for him. The long range comm. system that was given to Cortana's holo-tank back on the Nirvana also allowed her to send herself in AI form to the holo-tank of ships such as the Albatross. She guided the Spartan to the NAV point marker where there was a good landing sight. The Spartan then asked the former UNSC AI an important question.

“Is there any sing of an ambush below us Cortana?”

The AI shook her head as she got the confirmation the Long-Swords had passed the atmosphere and were now scanning the landing zone any potential dangers for the landing party, and thankfully found none that warranted a change in a landing zone location.

“Nothing John, we're all good to land.”

The Spartan nodded as the Albatross began to shake, showing that it was already hitting the atmosphere. He then spoke to the rest of the ground team who were already strapped into their seats before they went out in the Albatross.

“Get ready…we're entering the planet's atmosphere in five minutes!”

The women braced themselves and some held on tight to the restraints as the shaking continued to grow around them but all of their supplies, equipment, and their vehicles were already locked in and they were hoping to make it out alive from the landing. Outside, the Albatross' high grade Lead foil and Titanium A hull began to glow as the Albatross was being taken down to the planet's surface by gravity. The Spartan made sure to keep the Albatross at a level heading as they punched through the atmosphere…the shaking continued as the hull of the Albatross was now red hot but held on as the Spartan with Cortana's help made it down to the surface of the planet. As soon as he got word from Cortana that they were past the atmosphere, he ignited the engines and then guided the ship to the landing zone.

As soon as the Albatross landed on the surface of the barren world, he left the cockpit and called all the women together to the assembly area of the Albatross. As soon as the women were there, the Spartan organized them to into a mobile armor force as they had several Warthogs with them along with the Scorpion Tanks and some Mongooses. The Albatross had been upgraded by Cortana when it was built to house more than the usual amounts of supplies, weapons, vehicles, ammunition, armor, and equipment without losing it's already impressive abilities as a transport and mobile command center.

The fire teams were each told to use a LRV Warthog and a LAAV Warthog and one Scorpion Tank for heavy Armor and ranged Artillery support, at least all of the fire teams were now assigned to the use of vehicles while the Spartan was in command of a single Mongoose and as the ramps of the Albatross went down, the Spartan got on the Mongoose and gave the orders for the ground teams.

“I'll scout ahead to the objective, use the NAV markers to locate me and meet up with me for the attack on the mission. Remember, keep you're eyes open and be alert, we're in the Harvesters' back yard now.”

With that, the Spartan who had armed himself with a SRS99D- S2 Anti-Material Rifle with full battle load and a pair of M6G Pistols, and his spare weapons and ammunition in a small weapons pack he strapped in the back of the Mongoose took off, with the rest of the ground teams following their commander into battle. The Spartan made sure to keep himself within the tracking systems of his ground teams as the Warthogs and the Scorpions followed him a good distance behind him. He wanted the Scorpions to serve as mobile artillery and to engage the Harvesters should they have armor with them.

**************

In the Nirvana…

“Captain, the Dreads have encountered the Harvester blockade forces, they have escorted the Albatross safely and are now engaging the Harvester forces. And we have confirmation that the ground forces have been able to land and are on their way to the target installation.”

Magno nodded as the Nirvana was being guided by Bart to get to a fair distance from the fighting as the area of space was brought to life by the explosions of missiles and the bright lights of beam weapons. The Nirvana was to be nearby for the Dreki to do it's job of rearming and refueling the Dreads when they need to be back into the fight, the remaining long-sword interceptors that were not part of the support force for the ground teams were under the control of Cortana and they flew alongside the Dreads to lend their support to the pirates.

“TAKE THIS!!!”

Hibiki shouted as he took out his Vanguard's energy sword and slashed down two more Cube Fighters in a single pass. The Vanguard pilot kept his attacks moving as the Spartan told him to be on the move and to use any form of cover as best he could to get the right angle of attack without alerting the Harvesters to his intentions. This was proven true as he used the burning remains of several Cube Fighters as make shift shields and also as barriers to slow down his attackers. He also took the time to train using his Vanguard's shorter energy sword and use it as a throwing weapon and managed to take out a few more.

Meanwhile, the Dreads were busy taking down as many more Cube Fighters as they could manage at this rate and then take out the Seed Ships that began to appear in the area. They focused their fire on the Seed Ships once the Cube Fighters were out of the way. Meia focused her shots on several Cube Fighters and took them out using the enhanced speed of her Dread to her advantage while leading the other Dreads in the offensive.

After the confirmation that the ground teams were deployed on the ground for battle from Cortana and Buzam, Meia orders her Dread teams to form up and attack the Harvesters and defend the Nirvana as best they could. The surviving Long-swords were providing support fire for the Dreads and also a squadron was there to shield the Nirvana alongside the Dread defenders as the Nirvana moved in, but yet well beyond the range of the installation, this would keep the Harvesters focused on trying to lure them into the trap and less focused on the ground teams.

Magno looked at the battle out in space and then directed her attention to the images coming from the ground forces as they had their helmet recorders patched into the Nirvana' communication networks, and so did the Spartan through his Mjolnir Mark VI's COM system, allowing to see his point of view as well. They watched as the Spartan led his forces and was now reaching the key objective and as soon as he arrived, he got off his Mongoose and took out the Sniper Rifle and lay down in a nearby outcropping of stone and scanned the area.

The planet was indeed barren, with loose sand and rock moving about in some strong winds, along with large jagged rocks and cliffs all about…not a single sight of anything green in the area. As he checked the shield tower nearby through his Sniper Rifle's scope, he made sure to keep in radio contact with the rest of his fire teams and update them on the situation. The shield tower and the energy shield itself was well protected on the ground by a series of defense groups and he spotted a pair of them moving through the shield. He however knew that he couldn't attack just yet and he knew that until he got the data right, they couldn't make a move. As soon as he got confirmation that the rest of the teams were a fair distance away, he ordered the NCOs to have the vehicles stop moving and hold, while the NCOs' and their fellow Fire Team members were to form up and move.

As soon as they were in the area, the Spartan took the time to study the situation and decided to test the waters personally as he took careful aim with his Sniper Rifle…telling the women to wait for his go signal to make the strike past the barrier once he was sure of the situation. The NCOs and their fellow fire teams agreed with the Spartan's orders and held their positions. The Spartan then took the shot.

The Sniper Rifle's 14.5 x 114 mm APFSDS round flew through the air and sliced right through the shield, a testament to the anti-material nature of the weapon and busted through the chest of one of the Harvester units and right through another…both hits were right in the area where the synthetic `heart' was located and the creatures bled and dropped dead immediately. The Spartan wasted little time as he knew that the rest of the patrols were going to be on their way soon a soon as he readjusted his Sniper Rifle's sights, he scanned for more targets and spotted several more of the units coming in to check out what had happened to their comrades.

He fired yet another round and this one busted through the head of the Harvester unit…splashing it's magenta colored blood all over the place and the round did the very same to it's other comrades that were moving in formation and the three of them had their heads blown to bits by the sheer force of the round and they fell to the ground dead, their CPs completely scrambled by the Sniper Rifle's round. The Spartan then got into his Mongoose and silently hoped that he was going the right thing and mentally commanded his Mjolnir to increase power to the shields. The women watched as their commander started the engine and rushed towards the shield.

The Spartan passed right through the shield with little trouble, apparently the shield was only designed to protect the installation form orbital and atmospheric bombardment…not from a ground assault and that was the key to winning this fight, but the shield appeared to be an early warning system as the entire area was filled with alarms. The Spartan quickly ordered the rest of his Fire Teams to move in and move in they did as the drivers of the Warthogs activated their vehicle's engines and the Warthogs moved in and also passed the shields as the Scorpions moved in and passed shields as well, though at a slightly slower pace than the other UNSC based vehicles.

The Spartan found several deep pits with large rock outcroppings that were easy to get out of on foot and even by the Warthogs and quickly ordered the fire teams to place their Warthogs into them and use the locations as a temporary fox hole as there appeared to be a lot of cover in the area that they could use in order to reach the shield tower that they would have to take out quickly as they advanced. The Harvesters now knew that they were coming and the Spartan used his SRS99 99D-S2 AM Sniper Rifle's cope to spot a new type of transport.

The vehicle resembled a Phantom drop-ship but appeared not to have any weapon ports or hard points and appeared to be an anti-gravity style ground transport. The new Harvester transport then opened at the front and the sides to unleash more of the same Harvester bio-mechanical units that he had destroyed before and they were now moving in formation to attack them. He wasted little time and gave the order for a maximum kill zone to be set up by the pirate fire teams and the women scrambled to accomplish the objective he gave them.

The Warthogs were placed side by side with the driver ready to move the vehicle just in case the fire team needed more room, along with allowing the second Warthog to fire at the angle where it couldn't reach, for now however the Warthogs were being directed by the Spartan to wait for the order to set up the kill-zone and to wait for his order to fire. The Spartan knew that the best way to use Warthogs was on the move and he knew that this was going to be one heck of a first day for the drivers and the gunners of the LRV and LAAV variants of the Warthog. The women got their weapons ready and as each NCO reported to the Spartan that they were ready, the Spartan waited and told them not fire until he fired first.

The large number of Harvester troops meant that they were going to be slaughtered very quickly if they went into the kill-zone, however it seemed that the alien forces didn't care as they moved in closer and closer into the kill-zone, and once they were within it. The Spartan spoke once more in a calm tone…just as he pulled the trigger of his Sniper Rifle…the round barely left the barrel when he spoke to all of the Fire Teams.

“Fire at will.”

The second they heard the command…the women unleashed a massive barrage of bullets right into the incoming mass of Harvester forces. The Warthogs fired their weapons, The LRV's main weapon, the M41 Light Anti-Aircraft Gun unleashing a massive barrage of 12.7 x 99mm armor piercing rounds at the number of 450 to 550 per minute…even though the accuracy was a bit blocked by sustained fire from recoil, the numbers of Harvester units in front it meant that even if the rounds didn't go for a straight line, the rounds that did angle off still hit the enemy fast and hard, the LAAV unleashing it's signature gauss rounds, the rounds were naturally made of depleted uranium and fired by the powerful magnets at hyper velocity speeds, though there was little splash damage from the weapon, the power it had made sure to destroy rows of enemy troops and critically wound the ones nearby.

The former passengers of the Warthogs also unleash their barrage of weapons fire quickly and some of them even fired their M90A Shotguns, and while the pellets did little damage at longer ranges, the density of the alien formation made that a bit redundant.

The instant barrage caught the Harvester troops completely off guard. The first unit was killed instantly as the round from the Spartan's Sniper Rifle sliced right through the neck and killed it, along with three of it's fellow units. The rest found themselves being cut down in a massive hail of bullets. Since they only had passive shielding against energy weapons on their armor and an anti-ablative coating on their pseudo flesh, they were being shredded apart by the bullets as the rounds ripped into their bodies and tore them apart. Several of them alien soldiers managed to recover and fire back with their integrated plasma cannons, but they were also cut down as the Spartan fired another round into their ranks…cutting them down quickly and effectively before they could mount a counter offensive. The units unleashed a massive barrage of plasma bolts right at the pirates, forcing some of them to duck and move away, using the rocks as cover. The smell of gunpowder and ozone was everywhere. And white hot fragments of stone flew in the air as the fire fight was reaching the end.

The sounds of gunfire filled the area and the sounds were very much destructive as the Warthogs and the Fire Teams continued to open fire. The Spartan saw the first Harvester force were all wiped out, but his Sniper Rifle's scope allowed him to spot six more of the transports already on their way to attack them. He got quickly into contact with the Scorpions and their pilots and spoke to them as he fed the images from his COM system.

“We have incoming Harvester Transports coming in at these coordinates. Aim main canons and fire at my mark.”

“Roger that Sir! You heard the Chief ladies, let's get busy!”

“Yeah!”

The drivers of the Scorpions began to lock their cannons and as they worked on their targeting displays, they spotted the incoming Harvester Troop Transports and began to lock on the targets as the Transports rushed in to destroy their comrades. They were eager to fire, but they waited for the signal from the Chief.

Back on the lower ground, the women were given the order to cease fire as the first band of the Harvester Troopers were cut down by the ambush, but the Spartan quickly halted any celebration in the ranks, making them aware that the real battles was about to begin as he spotted the new transports coming in. He then gave the order to fire at will to the Scorpion Tank drivers.

“All Scorpions… fire at will. I repeat, all Scorpions, fire at will!”

“Roger that Chief! You heard him, fire at will!!!”

The sounds of massive cannon fire filled the air as the Scorpions unleashed their rounds right in the enemy forces, the rounds whistling into the air and smashing with enough force to rip stone and reduce it into nothing but rocky splinters and dust. The main weapon of the M808 Scorpion Main battle Tank was it's highly advanced 90mm High Velocity Gun/Cannon that fired a dense tungsten based projectile that could smash through infantry like they were not even there, and shred armor like a hammer would smash to bits an egg.

The results were heavy as one Harvester Transport took one right in the front as it was opening to deploy it's troops, they barely had enough time to take one step out of the transport as the tungsten round ripped right into them and tore them all to shreds, along with the transport as it was blown wide open as the round smashed into the rear energy core and engine section. The entire transport blew to bits in the same way a can would be blown apart when it covered a lit fire-cracker…the Troopers inside fared little better as their bodies and the parts of their bodies were scattered all over the place.

Another Transport was hit dead on as well and half of the entire transport was blown apart to kingdom come. Burning wreckage was sent flying in different directions as the Transport lost itself and crashed right into a massive outcropping of rock and blew itself to pieces, The Troopers inside were now nothing more than charred bodies and body parts reduced into nothing but charred remains. There were some that were apparently still somewhat intact and were blown out of their transport and they were moving towards the pirates in order to engage them, despite their extensive damage.

Another transport was hit hard and had a massive section of it's side ripped off by the explosion and the damage was seen as the transport had a smoking hole where the left side used to be. The Transport burned and it didn't take very long for the damage to become even more severe as the transport suffered another explosion inside of it…no doubt the explosion had damaged the fuel core system and that destroyed the Transport dead on. The burning hulk settled and from the ruins came a few surviving Harvester Troopers who also moved in.

Yet another Transport was hit and this time. The blast was at the side and the impact was enough that it had actually flipped the Transport to the right and it fell right into a deep ditch, trapping it and rendering it unable to unleash it's forces into the battle, The hit had also torn off a section of it's armor at it was already burning. The Transport was rendered unable to unleash it's forces and this forced them to have to fire their way out of their own transport…that produced explosive results as the Transport exploded from the internal damage being inflicted on it by it's own troops.

Another Transport was unleashing it's troops, but the shot from one of the Scorpion Tanks hit right into the massing number of Harvester Troopers and they were shredded to pieces by the impact of the weapon and they were scattered, the blast also severely mauled the Transport and left the front of it looking like a massive set of teeth had just taken a massive bite out of it, chewed it up, and spat it right back out as sections of armor were torn off by the blast, along with other components as well. The surviving Harvester Troopers moved in and began to activate their weapons, stepping over the remains of their slain comrades without a care at all…befitting their creation as war machines, as they moved in formation to engage the Spartan and the pirate fire teams.

Another Transport was about to stop and release it's payload of harvester Troopers, but had no time as a shell slammed right on top of it and sheared off a large portion of it's upper armor and the round punched through to the floor, making the Transport explode at the rear of the Transport…forcing it to stop dead in it's tracks…and a few seconds later…the Transport exploded into a fireball, it's engine core totally destroyed.

The Spartan nodded as he looked through the SRS99 99D-S2 AM Sniper Rifle's scoped sights and saw the results of the shots and he gave the order for the Scorpions to move in and engage the enemy, he fired a few more rounds into the enemy ranks, taking down several more of the Harvester Troopers as he reloaded his SRS99 99D-S2 AM Sniper Rifle and fired another batch of rounds at the Harvesters. The APFSDS rounds of SRS99 99D-S2 AM the Sniper Rifle punched through their body armor and their pseudo flesh like a hot knife through butter and hit them in their critical areas. The Master Chief had made sure to study the frames of the harvester Troopers he had killed and was able to locate critical weak points that his weapons could further exploit to minimize the usage of ammunition for his weapons.

He also taught the same lessons to the women as he saw them taking the time to pick their targets and their spots to eliminate the enemy, namely Fire Team Bravo who were using the SRS99 99D-S2 AM Sniper Rifles to good effect, though despite their training, they still had to get used to the massive recoil made by the rifles when they fired. The Spartan then looked ahead and spotted more Transports coming in, but this time, they were wary and had unleashed their payloads of Harvester Troopers early and had now sent them streaming towards them in large formations. The Spartan knew that unless they were able to take out the tower in their area…they would be in serious trouble and they had to do it soon.

“All Fire Teams, prepare to engage the enemy on the move…use the environment as cover and make you're way to the Tower to take it out, All Warthogs and Scorpions are to provide support fire for the advance.”

“Roger!”

The Spartan placed away his pistols and took out his MA5C ICWS Assault Rifle, and also took with him a pair of Frag Grenades, and then removed the container from the Mongoose and placed the container on the back of a Warthog and with that and his still present SRS99 99D-S2 AM Sniper Rifle in hand, he led the charge, the women following him while the others provided support fire. As soon as he got within 800 meters, he and the pirates who moved forward took defensive positions and unleashed massive support fire while taking turns in reloading their weapons. The women who were in the trenches took that as their cue and left the position…moving swiftly as best as they could ahead of the first group, they went another 800 meters and they then got into position and provided covering fire as the first team moved into position.

This move was known as leap-frog or in the older days of the Second World War as island hopping, however this version was sued in a special attack where one element would move forward, establish a defensive perimeter and keep the enemy pinned down and prevent them from attacking the second element, which would then move forward and set up their own perimeter and cover the first element as they moved towards the enemy and would set up another perimeter to cover the second element which would then do the same. This would allow the fire teams to protect one another while still being on the move and keeping the enemy from overwhelming the advancing forces on their side.

The Spartan provided powerful support fire from his SRS99 99D-S2 AM Sniper Rifle as he checked the progress and gave the nod as the NCOs of fire team Charlie, and fire team Bravo, namely Sheena and Hilda said that they had set up and were providing support fire. The Spartan nodded and then ordered the members of Fire Teams' Alpha, Delta, Eagle and Fox who were with him and their own NCOs to move ahead. There were also members of the four fire teams with Charlie and Bravo who supported their members as the Spartan took out his MA5C ICWS Assault Rifle and led the charge.

The Spartan moved quickly, and due to his augmentations was already ahead of the women and provided the needed support fire. The other we\omen got to see him in action and were in awe. In their training camp, he had restrained himself from going all out with his abilities as a Spartan, but they were now seeing up close and personal how he would fight in a real battle field and it was impressive…he ran ahead of the women and when he fired his weapons, it was a blur of speed, but they saw the deadly power he had as Harvester Troopers that were in his line of fire were hit hard and were badly mauled by the weapons fire he had with him. He provided the covering fire as they moved to his position, using the ground and rock outcroppings as cover for their own approach and when they were in position, they got into firing position and lent their support fire to the Spartan. He then took out one of his Frag Grenades and tossed it high, and right into a mass of Harvester Troopers. The resulting explosion tore apart those deep in the blast radius and killed them, while damaging the rest due to the shrapnel. He then took out his SRS99 99D-S2 AM Sniper Rifle while placing the MA5C ICWS Assault Rifle on his back, he and the others provided the support fire while the other team moved in.

The Warthogs left the temporary foxholes and their gunners provided heavy support fire on the move, careful not to get in front of either Scorpions' or the Fire teams' areas of fire, their M41s and the Gauss Cannons added extra fire to ensure that their comrades were well protected while shredding the opposition. While the Scorpion Tanks blasted away and tore down even more of the Harvester Troopers.

The entire battle was already five to eight minutes long but it was the most intense fire-fight the women had ever been in as they made their way to the Shield Tower that they had to take down, they knew that not only will it weaken the shield network protecting the installation but it will allow the Longswords to provide them air support. The entire battle field was filled with bullets and the vapor trails of the Gauss rounds, the Scorpion Tank rounds, the vapor trails of the APFSDS rounds of the SRS99 99D-S2 AM Sniper Rifles, and the smoke trails of the rockets of the M41 SSR MAV/AW Rocket Launchers…and the bright lights of the plasma fire from the Harvester forces.

The pirates were doing well as they advanced onwards, but that certainly didn't mean that they got away from injury as several women were hit by the plasma fire and shouted in pain as the burning sensation hit them hard and forced them to drop and move to avoid the remaining blasts of fire, they were bleeding from the wounds on areas that were not totally protected by the Marine Armor they were wearing. The armor held on when it was hit, but it was showing signs of melting as well. The others got their wounded comrades and moved on, while others bit back the pain as adrenaline filled their bodies and they pushed onwards…

Even the drivers of the Warthogs and Scorpions were far from safe as they avoided massive barrages of plasma fire, they knew that standing still was a promise of being cut down plasma fire, but they got injured either way, one of the drivers was hit by several fragments of white hot stone which was super heated by the plasma and she got hit by a straw plasma bolt to the leg, melting her thigh armor plating and burning her leg, forcing her shout in pain, while the gunner got hit by half of a plasma both to the left side of her body, her Marine Armor holding the blow, but she gets hit by hot shrapnel on the thigh that was not blocked by her body armor, she shouted in pain as she managed to remain upright and fire her M41. They were then forced to abandon the vehicle when the two of them were forced to stop as neither of them could drive the vehicle and left the Warthog, but not before getting as much ammunition and weapons as they could carry. They were able to escape from the now abandoned Warthog as it was destroyed by a concentrated barrage of plasma bolts and they were then rescued when one of their comrades driving a Scorpion Tank acted as their shield from enemy fire and escorted them long enough for a pair of Warthogs to pick them up and move ahead.

Another driver have to turn to avoid crashing into a nearby boulder as she had been temporarily blinded by a plasma bolt that exploded in front of her Warthog's wind-shield, She recovered and managed to avoid another barrage, but the plasma bolts hit her tires, and while the tires held from the attack, they were eventually punctured and that left it vulnerable, forcing the driver to abandon the vehicle and cover her companion who was using the Gauss cannon, she was then hit by a 0lasma bolt on the right shoulder, making her shout in pain at the burning sensation and forced her to place aside her MA5C ICWS Assault Rifle and take out her M7 Caseless Sub Machine Gun, her companion was marginally wounded by stones and managed to get her companion and escape, before their vehicle was hit by a massive plasma bolt shower and it exploded as the armor collapsed. They were approached by another Scorpion and the two moved alongside the tank until the more wounded one was taken on the passenger seat of another still functional Warthog and the marginally wounded one of the pair rode on the tank and got into the Scorpion's turret to ride the secondary guns

One more Warthog was hit by several bolts of plasma that sheared off the armor plating on the front of the Warthog and that forced the driver to stop as the smoke coming from the damaged vehicle's engine was blinding her and forced her to get off the vehicle, she was then hit by a plasma bolt to the left side, with the Armor holding and preventing further injury. She managed to get her weapon and some ammunition while her comrade was able to protect them using the still functional Gauss cannon, but no longer functioned after she fired another batch of rounds, showing them that the damage was extensive to the engine. The two got their weapons and beat feet before the Warthog exploded as it's hydrogen fuel cells exploded, sending the now destroyed Warthog into the air. They were not badly wounded and were able to link up with the others.

One Scorpion was hit by multiple plasma bolts but held on as it continued to fire and decimate the Harvesters, but the tank was hit by the Harvester forces constantly and the damage was increasing and they were getting closer to it and that would mean that it would soon be overwhelmed. The driver knew that there was a blind spot on the range and kill zone of the Scorpion and the Harvesters were soon going to get to that, as more and more of them kept coming. She then moved back at full reverse and fired her cannon at will, taking out more of the enemy…but that was when she made a mistake and smashed into a large outcropping of rock and seeing that she was running out of time, she abandoned her Scorpion, but not before setting a good amount of Frag and Napalm Grenades with a timer, she got out and used her BR55HB SR Battle Rifle to attack the enemy and moved away to a nearby ditch and held her foes off until she was rescued by a Gauss Cannon armed Warthog and she ran to the Passenger seat and got onboard, but not before being hit by a plasma bolt that sheared the right side of her helmet…thankfully the helmet held on and she was alive, but she had to ditch it as it was too badly damaged to be of much help to her now. The Warthog got out of the area and when the Harvester Troopers were overwhelming the tank, the timer went off and the explosion destroyed a large number of the Harvester Troopers as the shrapnel flew in all directions from the now ruined Scorpion Tank.

The Spartan and his forces moved on and fought past another large force of Harvester Troopers as the bullets and plasma bolts flew all over the place. He then moved ahead and took out several more of the Harvester Troopers with his SRS99D-S3 AM Sniper Rifle, hitting them right in the hearts and tossed his next grenade into another group that attacked him. The Spartan took cover as best he could when his shield was reaching the middle area of the energy gauge, and waited for it to recharge. As soon as it did so, he took out his MA5C ICWS Assault Rifle and unleashed a massive barrage of ammunition on the Harvester Troopers that were close to him and quickly reloaded his weapon while under cover.

The Fire Teams that were with the Spartan and the ones in the second group were able to hold back the Harvester Troopers, even as more Transports of the Troopers were coming in to unleash more of the units on them…and they were still supported by the Warthogs and the remaining Scorpion Tanks. The women were still getting used to the battle as the fighting had just dragged on towards lasting for fifteen to twenty minutes, short to others, but for soldiers fighting on the ground, it felt like a life-time had passed them by as the smell of gunpowder, propellant, ozone, burning metal and fuel, and even the smell of flesh burns filled the air. The women sucked it up as they focused on getting the job done as some of them were using M41 SSR MAV/AW Rocket Launchers and their missiles to bombard the Harvester Troopers and decimate them as they were in the field. The Harvesters did leave a significant fighting force to protect the installation, but considering the way they responded to the attacks the pirates and the Spartan launched, they were apparently not expecting a ground assault as they only had their Troopers and no sign of heavy weapons forces or any vehicle or air-craft support at all...just purely infantry and infantry transports.

The Spartan and his Fire Teams managed to bypass the large rock outcroppings that jutted around the Shield Tower and acted as a natural number of shields, and managed to overwhelm the guards near the Shield Tower. As they did so, the Spartan ordered his Fire Teams to set up a defensive perimeter a good distance away from the Tower as he took out his Assault Rifle and managed to enter the structure, he had used a Spoofer to open the door and found himself in a massive room and faced off with four Harvester Troopers, the first got I's face full of 7.62 x 51mm FMJ bullets and was ripped to shreds as the Spartan quickly moved and evaded the enemy fire. One of the Harvester Troopers advanced and tried to use it's left arm blade to kill the Spartan up close. However the Spartan moved aside and quickly struck a powerful blow to the neck of his foe…making the very unpleasant sound of his foe's neck bones…or what passes as such to snap like a twig and he grabbed the corpse with one hand and turned it around to take the blows of the other Harvester Troopers.

The Troopers fired on, uncaring for the fact that they were shooting their own comrade and the Spartan took that to heart as he charged in and attacked, raising the left arm of the slain harvester Trooper and impaled the third Harvester Trooper with the still extended blade of it's slain comrade. He then kicked the body aside and smashed his Assault Rifle into the chest of the fourth Harvester Trooper, his augmented strength and the power boost by the Paeksis enhanced Mjolnir allowed the weapon to smash right into the chest of the bio-mechanical unit and he fired the weapon…the result was obvious as the wall behind the Trooper was covered in the magenta colored fluid once more…along the bullet holes as the opponent dropped dead.

The Spartan then moved away, dropped his Assault Rifle and took out his SRS99 99D-S2 AM Sniper Rifle from his back and fired the round right into the back of the second Harvester Trooper, the effect was that it sliced right through the two and right in the heart no less…killing the two and leaving them as corpses. The Spartan then moved towards the nearby door and managed to find an empty room with one lift, he took it and was taken down to a lower facility and he then enter another chamber with a massive computer terminal and four massive glowing energy rods in the four corners of the room, and one massive tube that appeared to be heavily shielded as well…and there was a massive flow of energy in the tube as well

“Wow…that must be the main command center area, and those four rods must be the flow control systems for the power flow. John…we need to take them offline…let me get a closer look at it.”

The Spartan nodded and made it to the rods and Cortana studied it using her advanced uplink while still being on the Nirvana.

“John…I need you to set up powerful explosives on all four control rods, once that's done, you need to disable the shielding that protects the tube, with that done, we can kiss this Shield Tower good bye.”

“Got it.”

The Spartan got on the COM and contacted NCO Fiona who nodded with the Spartan's orders and got to the structure along with two of her comrades. They took out their demolitions equipment and got ready to blow the place sky high, namely the use of Thermite Carbon Cord, C-7 Foaming Explosive, and several cubes of C-12 Shaped Charge.

The women quickly but carefully placed the Thermite Cord around the rods to destroy them, they then placed the C-7 Foaming Explosive on the console and around the tube that provided the power and the cubes of C-12 Shaped Charge were placed in the facility to break it down quickly, once he was told by Fiona that they were in the clear, he ordered them to leave the area with him. The demolition squad left the area alongside the Spartan and high tailed it back to the defensive perimeter that was set up before. Once they were all in the area, he gave the order for Fiona and her teams to fire away.

The women nodded and hit the switches to their detonators.

The Thermite Carbon Cord ignited first and the intense heat they released melted right through the rods and caused the Tower to shake as the rods kept the controls for the energy flow stable and with them broken, the flow of energy was becoming very erratic, the C-7 was next to go boom as it destroyed the console and the tube, with the console destroyed and shielding down and without the control rods to regulate power flow, the energy began to increase…and the C-12 Shaped Charge blew up as well…all this happened in only a number of seconds to one minute.

Outside the result was explosive as the Tower's upper parts stopped rotating and the energy it created dissipated in a flash of light and then the Tower was cracked and explosions came out along with energy and fire from the cracks, parts of the Tower fell down and it then blew apart like can filled with plenty of fire crackers. And as predicted, the destruction of just one Shield Tower took down a section of the shield as the energy that covered them disappeared completely.

The Spartan waited as the fires died down and then ordered his forces to move to the remains of the Shield Tower and the debris that landed around it…thankfully, the Nirvana ground forces were not caught in the blast or the debris that were flying about from the destruction of the Shield Tower…but the Master Chief's Mongoose was crushed to nothing when one fragment of the Shield Tower smashed into the temporary fox hole that they were using before. He planned to use the location to set up a temporary defensive base as his teams had a lot of wounded that needed a safe place to be medically treated…with the fires of the base dying down and the threat of another explosion already out of the picture as the remains had no power and fuel to burn, the place would serve well for now.

Despite the heavy fire from the advancing Harvester forces, the Spartan and his Fire teams arrived at the site and managed to find a path that allowed them to get the surviving Warthogs into the area and the Scorpions as well, with the tanks moving into the area while maneuvering through the debris and rock outcroppings. Once that was done and defensive positions were now set up, he called in Cortana.

**************

“Cortana…the section of the shield is down, we need air support down here ASAP.”

“Roger that John, hang on down there, Long-swords are inbound!”

And true to Cortana's words, the Long-swords came into the battle field, helping the trapped pirates as they were being surrounded by the Harvester Troopers. The multi-purpose UNSC fighters unleashed their arsenals as massive barrages of it's 110mm rotary cannons, and it's 120mm guns, along with several salvos of the ASGM- 10 Missiles that while used normally to take out unshielded targets and engage space fighters such as the Covenant Seraphs, they would double as heavy ground weapons ordinance as well. The sounds of their weapons fire made the advancing Harvester units turn and look up before they got shredded, some of the Harvester platoons turned and fired their weapons, filling the sky with plasma bolts, but since their weapons were infantry sized only, they didn't have enough damage power to seriously endanger the Longswords, plus they were being attacked by a squadron, not a lone Longsword. The carnage was immense as massive explosions from the ASGM-10 missiles were seen along with massive mushroom clouds were seen, along with large geysers of sand and rock as the bullets from the guns of the Longswords tore up the place. That was followed by the destruction of the Harvester Troopers that tried to overwhelm the women and the Spartan. They were shredded and blown apart by the attacks and they were scattered all over the place, their bodies torn to shreds.

The women whooped out in relief and cheer as the Longswords came back for another strike and wiped out several more detachments of the Harvester forces.

“TAKE THAT YOU HARVESTERS!!!!”

“HOW DOES THAT FEEL?”

Some of the women even swore Megelian oaths as they witnessed the fall of their enemies and it was understandable as they were happy that the Harvesters got what they deserved. The medics in their fire teams treated the wounded. Thankfully, the armor plating of the Marine Armor protected their vital areas well, and while they were wounded from the burns of plasma fire, the medics were able to bring their own medical gear and treated the burns, along with the Megele medi-kits that they had with them along the UNSC medical Scanners. They were able to treat the burns as best they could and used the supplies of dermacortic steroids to heal the burn wounds, and the Megele medi-kits to help ensure that they were not scarred by the wounds, as they did still not want to suffer scars. The medics also used the painkillers in their supplies, including Polypseudomorphine to make the pain less intense for their comrades and while some of them were very much sickened by the wounds they saw…and the smell, they sucked it up as they knew that the lives of their comrades where on the line and therefore they could ill-afford to be squeamish, especially in a fire fight like this one.

The Spartan then looked through his SRS99 99D-S2 AM Sniper Rifle's scope and in the direction of the power plants. He then got into contact with Cortana as he needed an update on the battle overhead.

“Cortana…what's the situation up there?'

**************

Back in Space…

“TAKE THIS!!!!”

Hibiki and Dita said as they were in the VanDread they formed which was named VanDread Dita by the other pirates, they fired the cannons and destroyed several Cube Fighters and a Seed Ship while the Dreads and Cube Fighters were still fighting it out in space. The VanDread provided heavy support fire and also tore down any of the Cube Fighters that tried to stop it with the blades attached to the fore-arms.

Jura was still a bit miffed that her chance to combine with Hibiki was lost as Dita had taken the chance and merged with his Vanguard before she did, and she let her frustration out on the Harvesters as she took out three more with her Dread's cannons. Barnette likewise fired her Dread's missiles into the enemy and destroyed them and used her beam cannons to take out another Cube Fighter that was trying to blindside some of her comrades.

Meia smiled a bit as her Dreads were going a fine job and it was then that she spotted a massive barrage of missiles coming from the Nirvana and those missiles were able to\ destroy a large batch of Cube Fighters and several of the Seed Ships. She smiled a bit more as she realized that Cortana had been able to fire the weapons on the UNSC section of the Nirvana as support fire for the Dreads. It seemed that the Nirvana was now far from defenseless this time as the ship unleashed another Archer Missile Barrage. The Dread pilots and even Hibiki and Dita were surprised at the sight as they had thought that the Nirvana was unarmed, but now their ship was armed with a very deadly add-on of fire power.

In the bridge, Magno and Buzam gave Cortana the order to fire the Archer Missile Pods that were still stocked with missiles at the incoming Harvester forces to lessen the weight of responsibility on the Dreads. Cortana had been able to determine that the Archer missile pods were now fully loaded and ready to fight and the sight of the Nirvana firing a massive missile barrage was incredible. The missiles were of various payloads of explosives and their tracking systems were enough to take out large ships and when fired en masse the explosive results could shred smaller ships caught in the blast. Even though the Archer Missiles were not effective on the Covenant forces due to the ships of the alien theocratic alliance having effective counter-measures and point defense lasers as well, that and their shields as well, they proved to be very effective on the Harvesters as the ships they had present had no such shielding technology.

The Harvesters were stunned somewhat as they had not noted that the Nirvana had weapons and the Cube Fighters closed in to attack the ship. Even with the Longswords in the area along with several Dreads, the Cube Fighters managed to get in close and attack…but they got a surprise of their own…

As several sections on the Nirvana opened up and out came turrets armed with a pair of 50mm Point Defense Guns. The weapons were all controlled by Cortana as she activated the weapons to respond with the incoming threats of the Cube Fighters. The weapons used a special type of propellant that required no oxygen and had powerful bullet loads that were very numerous and nasty. The turrets were located on the sides near the arms with four on each arm… four more on the front of the Nirvana and four more on the lower sections and even four upside down…and since they were able to move a full 360 degrees and cover the area they were located in and in a half sphere, they were able to shred the Cube Fighters like they were tin-foil, further making a direct attack by fighters on the ship to be a bit of a high risk as Cortana proved to be deadly accurate with either the Archer Missiles or the newly activated Point Defense Guns while she was in her AI form as the hulks of Cube Fighters around the Nirvana could attest to that.

Magno and Buzam had asked Cortana for the past few days before this mission if the rest of the UNSC weapons from the Forward Unto Dawn could now be used, and she nodded as she had been able to finally access all sections of the Nirvana that had been touched by the Paeksis. And the planning paid off as the Nirvana was now more than capable of defending itself. Cortana took the call from the Spartan and reported to him as she and the crew watched the battle on the ground from their connections to the recorders on the helmets of the Fire Teams and the live feed from the Spartan himself.

“We're okay here John…, the Harvesters are really coming in and they seem to be interested indeed in capturing us. The Dreads, Longswords and the Vanguard Hibiki's piloting are giving them a hell of a headache, plus the VanDread's down great.”

Magno was busy coordinating the situation as she and Buzam watched as Gascogne left the ship and re-supplied the Dreads that called for re-supply, the Dreki taking a lot of punishment but holding strong as it was protected by the Longswords and the Dreads, The VanDread fired another blast from it's main cannons and destroyed several more Cube Fighters and Seed Ships. Buzam likewise kept track of the Harvester forces as the still active Clarion Spy Drones kept them informed of the Harvester forces. They then spotted the incoming reinforcements of Harvester units and detected the Urchin Vessels.

“Contact the Dreads, tell them we have more forces on the way, and this time they have Urchin Ships with them. Once the Urchins are seen, have VanDread Dita or VanDread Meia ready for combat with them!”

Buzam orders as soon as she was able to identify their numbers, and having seen the Urchin Ships in action, she knew that they were a deadly threat to not just the Dreads but the Nirvana as well.

“Roger!”

Meia shook her head and frowned a bit at the mention of Urchin Ships as that meant that she would have to combine once more with Hibiki to defeat them…she knew the reason behind the merging, but was still not happy with having to work with men…she out that aside as she helped lead the Dreads on their attacks on the Harvesters. The entire area of space was filled with the ruined hulks of Cube Fighters and Seed Ships as the Dreads continued to hold the line and get the Harvesters' attention, while the Nirvana, with it's new weapon systems assisted the Dreads and defended itself from Harvester retaliation as the Cube Fighters were cut down and ripped apart before they could get close enough and break through the Nirvana's shields by the Point Defense Gun Turrets.

The Harvester forces realized that the Nirvana was NOT going to be an easy catch like the other ships they had already taken and unless they got the ship within range of the weapon they had on the surface, they would lose this new catch…they hoped that the remaining forces they had on the surface would be able to deal with the ground forces dispatched by the Nirvana, the Harvesters knew that the pirates had already taken out one of the Shield Towers and they had to hurry before even more damage was suffered. They had spent too much time, resources, and labor to lose the installation…they were not going to lose it now!

**************

On the ground…

The Spartan nodded as Cortana filled him in on the situation, he was thankful that the Longswords that were taking care of the enemy for the moment held off the Harvester Troopers, allowing his Fire Teams the chance to take a breather and this allowed him to then assess his forces on the ground…with the loss of three Warthogs, his Mongoose, and one of the Scorpions, they were a bit short on heavier fire power and vehicle support…and the women were soon going to be in a strait of ammunition loss. He could order them to pull back…but that was a dumb idea as that would leave them vulnerable to retaliation by the Harvesters. They had to take the fight to the Harvesters and take out the installation ASAP. He then had an idea and quickly moved to one of the LRV Warthogs, the very same one that had his ammunition canister on hand.

He took it down and rummaged through the supplies and found plenty of ammunition and had the NCOs distribute the extra munitions to their team-mates, the spare bullets won't be enough, but it will have to do, he also found his still present M6G Magnums, and a pair of M7 Caseless Sub Machine Guns with a lot of spare clips …he then found what he was looking for…

There were several Damage Packs and a good supply of C-7 Foaming explosives in their vacuum sealed containers, and one Fury TAC-nuke. The Spartan then decided to get this mission started as he eyes the main target. He knew that they still had a lot of firepower to get the job done as they had plenty of vehicles, but the wounded were his concern, they had to be out of here soon and leaving them was a bad idea.

He then formulated a plan and contacted his NCOs to gather around. Carla, Sheens, Hilda, Rena, Fiona, and Kara moved to the Spartan as he gave his orders.

“We need to take out that installation, while the Longswords deal with the Power Plants. I need you all to stay here while a small force is with me and reach the installation, we'll blow our way into the facility and shut it down from the inside, I'll leave the others here to defend the wounded along with the remaining Warthogs and Scorpions, I only need a small vehicle force with me to cover us as we make our way there. I need you and the remaining members to keep the wounded safe and distract the Harvesters.”

The NCOs took in the information and Kara spoke first.

“We might run out of ammunition sir.”

“I know that, I have a plan for that as well. I'll contact Cortana and have her take the Albatross in and land near here to act as a base for you all until the installation is taken down. Once I have confirmation from Cortana that she can land the Albatross and it arrives…I want you to get as much ammunition and supplies from the drop-ship…make sure to get the wounded in the Albatross as well. You have to make sure that the Albatross is not shot down, that's our only ticket off the planet until we have a spare Albatross made. Any questions?”

Kara and her comrades shook their heads…they knew what had to be done and were ready for it. The Spartan nodded and told them to gather the members of the fire teams that they could spare to meet up with him. As soon as the NCOs were on their way through the wreckage of the Shield Tower and the remains, he contacted Cortana.

“Cortana, can you control the Albatross and land it near the destroyed Shield Tower?”

“I can John, it'll be one hell of a trick though, I'll have the Longswords provide support fire for it, but you're ground team will have to cover it once it lands.”

“Understood, get here as fast as you can…we need to get ready to leave and get the wounded out of here once the mission is complete.”

The Spartan then turned to face the small band of pirates who were gathered by the NCOs and he briefed them on their mission roles, and made sure that they were able to tell the drivers of the Scorpions and the drivers and gunners of the Warthogs selected by the NCOs their new mission. He then ordered the members of Fiona's Fire Team Eagle to destroy the rear outcroppings of rock to make a safe landing zone for the arriving Albatross, and they did well enough, using the Thermite Carbon Cord to slice through the stone and move them aside with the aid of the tow winch of the Warthogs, it took less than three to four minutes for it all to be finished and they now had a good sized landing zone and extra room to move about. He was then able to spot the incoming Albatross and smiled as the Longswords came in and protected the massive transport. As soon as it landed, he and the Fire Team members that could be spared were able to go in and get the supplies they needed, including more medical equipment/supplies, ammunition, and spare weapons. The Spartan then took out several crates that contained Cortana's newly manufactured Covenant based weapons. The women had been given the training on how to operate these weapons in the two and a half months of training they had been given back in Camp Genesis and knew how deadly the weapons were. The Spartan knew that as well and he ordered the distribution of the weapons to the rest of the Fire Teams.

The weapons included Plasma Rifles, Plasma pistols, Carbines with their power packs, Particle Beam Rifles, Needlers with their respective munitions, and a few Fuel Rod Cannons and their ammunition belts. The new weapons, plus the extra ammunition for their current weapons meant that the pirate Fire Teams had just gotten a hell of a lot more deadly for the Harvesters to face alone. It didn't take very long for the Fire teams to be fully re-supplied and equipped, and the medics were able to take the wounded back to the Albatross for better safety and medical treatment.

As soon as that was done and the women were ready, the Spartan took his commando team and their vehicle support straight to the installation, using the terrain as cover, while the remaining women held their lines and waited for their NCOs to give them the firing order. As soon as the Harvesters were seen and they were once more on the move…the women waited as the Harvesters walked towards the newly set up kill zone once more. The Scorpions were hidden by the still burning wreckage of the destroyed Shield Tower, and were ready to rain merry hell on the Harvester ground forces, with the drivers of the Warthogs out and acting as spotters for their fire…with the surviving Warthogs ready to raise hell with their weapons…and the Fire Teams were fully restocked with ammunition and grenades, plus the new Covenant weapons.

The very first batch of Harvester Troopers to leave the smoke found themselves cut down by the weapons fire of the SRS99 99D-S2 AM Sniper Rifle, the Type-50 Sniper Rifle System or known to all as the Particle Beam Rifle, the Type-51 known as the Carbine, and the BR55HB SR Battle Rifle. The Harvesters moved in and they were now greeted by not just bullets, gauss rounds, and rockets, but by plasma bolts, beam rifles, and fuel rod cannon bolts as the women unleashed another barrage of weapons fire right at the Harvesters at full force.

**************

The commando team under John-117's personal command…

The Spartan moved on foot and was moving like a green blur at the speeds he was moving in as he used the rock outcroppings as cover. He could tell that the fighting had begun once more and he hoped that the Fire Teams could keep the Harvesters occupied long enough for his team to move in and secure a position and get into the facility. He then got into contact with Cortana as he moved on and covered the arrival of the rest of the team under him.

“Cortana…are those Longswords still fully armed?”

“They are John, they still have plenty of their munitions left, why?”

“I need them to break into two teams, provide enough support fire to the ground teams to keep them safe and the others to destroy the power plants once I give the order. I've got a feeling those power plants are not the only source of power here.”

“You think the installation has back-up power systems?'

“Possibly.”

“All right then John…you be careful out there and make sure you and the others make it back here on the Nirvana alive.”

“Don't worry…we'll all make it back.”

The Spartan spotted several more Harvester Troopers in the area and quickly moved and attacked, moving through the rock outcroppings and firing his MA5C ICWS Assault Rifle and taking out a pair of the alien Troopers, but had to duck as several responding bolts of plasma fire pinned him down, but that was enough to distract the Harvesters and allow the rest of the commando team on foot to blast the Harvester Troopers before they knew that the Spartan was not alone. The bullets from the various weapons the women had on them cut down the Harvesters quickly, neatly, and efficiently and allowed the team to keep moving. The Spartan then spotted the installation, their main target and spotted a large band of Harvester Troopers moving out to reinforce their comrades. He quickly got into contact with the driver of the Scorpion Tank and used his COM system to spot for her…and the Spartan then gave the order to fire.

The sound of a massive shell firing out of the cannon slammed right into the alien forces and blew them to shreds, the Spartan was then armed with his pair of M7 SMGs and quickly moved in and was followed by the women who attacked the survivors of the Harvesters, while the Spartan was the one who charged ahead and took out the first pair of the Harvester Troopers with a hail of bullets and the harvester Troopers fell down in a bloody heap, their bodies filled with lead. The Spartan quickly crushed the head of another Harvester Trooper trying to get up with one stomp of his foot as it was trying to rise and fight back…even with both legs blown off and it's fluids spilled everywhere. Another got shredded by the Spartan as he fired the M7 SMG in his left arm right into it's face as it tried to attack with it's left arm blade, which the Spartan blocked with his right arm. As soon as the body fell, he aimed his right M7 right into another that tried to blindside him.

The women came in and they mopped up the survivors, the women holding their lunches in at the carnage as they quickly took out the Harvester Troopers that survived the blast from the Scorpion's cannon. The Spartan then told them to stand clear as he placed in the damage packs on the wall and set the timer. The commando team moved back and the sounds that resulted as the timers of the damage packs was horrendous as the walls of the installation had massive cracks and sections fell off the wall, even the ground shock from the blast itself and as soon as the smoke cleared, the Spartan ordered the rest of the team to cover the entrance…namely the Scorpion and the LRV Warthog with them, while the women who were on foot were given the order to follow him and to be careful.

“Make sure to shoot only if you can hit the target, don't waste ammunition.”

“Yes sir!”

The Spartan was already armed with his Assault Rifle and his SMGs, while his companions were armed with MA5C ICWS Assault Rifles and M90A Shotguns. The five member squadron made their way into the massive hole of the facility and as they moved through, the had several fire fights with the remaining Harvester Troopers inside, the women followed the Spartan's orders and conserved their ammunition and then when he gave the order to use grenades to dislodge any pesky Harvester Trooper behind any barriers. They fought their way to a nearby lift and then fought past several more levels and reached a massive deck filled with computers. The Spartan placed his hand and began to use the Mjolnir Mark VI's hacking abilities and downloaded the information…including the blue-prints of the facility.

“It seems you're right, there's a secondary underground power core in the facility to keep the thing running just in case the main power grid was taken offline…it's at least three to four stories down, the fourth story section above the main power core must be the one that houses main command nodes for the ground and space borne forces are located…that means that this base is not only fully automated, it runs the entire blockade force…John…we have to take this base out completely. This area only operates the main weapon system so we can just disable the energy net transmitters, we have to shut down the command nodes fast or else we'll be fighting these guys none stop.”

“Got it, we're already on the move.”

The Spartan wasted little time and quickly asked for a grenade and was handed one by one of the women, without waiting he punched a hole right into the console and stuffed the grenade inside and they moved out of the area. The console was destroyed by the internal explosion and the priming up process was taken offline by the grenade.

The Spartan contacted the defensive force and Hilda told him that they were still holding on the Albatross was not yet under attack, but things were getting very hectic as more Harvester Transports were coming, it was as if they had entire regiments down here on this planet. The Spartan told them to hold the line, relief was coming in very soon.

The Spartan and his forces continued their advance and he was able to contact their security team and found them to holding another advancing force and their vehicles were running out of protection. The Spartan told them to hold on as he and his team managed to fight their way past several more pairs of Harvester Troopers as bullets and plasma fire were traded back and forth, but they were not free without injury as one of the commandos took a direct hit to the stomach and while the armor held, the woman suffered several burns as the plasma hit her hard and was knocked down and had to be evacuated by one of her comrades while the others covered them, This left the team down to three as they made their way to the lift and made it to the fourth story section and as they moved in, they fought with more pairs of Harvester Troopers and they reached the main control hub, but the women were already too low on ammunition to be of much help to the Spartan and he ordered them to pull out now. The women hesitated for a second, but nodded and high tailed it back to the lift as the Spartan reached behind him and took out the last remaining containers of the C-7 Foaming Explosive…he had work to do.

In the chamber were three control nodes…massive pillars of transparent screens with information traveling in nano-seconds on the sheet screens, these were his target as he went to work with the explosives.

**************

In space…

The Dreads were really busy as the Harvester Forces began to herd the Nirvana even with the horrendous losses they were suffering from the weapons the Nirvana now had on it's form. The Longswords with them had exhausted their ordinance and had to return to the Nirvana to resupply as they didn't have the weapons of the Dreads and therefore could not be resupplied in the same fashion as the Dreads by the Dreki. The Dreads were however supported by the VanDreads, and right now, VanDread Meia was in the battlefield.

The dragon-like VanDread had managed to smash right through a pair of Urchin Ships that tried to blind side it and destroy it as well. The high speed VanDread moved and engaged several more Cube Fighters and also attacked another batch of Urchin Ships that came on the scene, using the speed and acceleration to even up the odds and force the Urchin Ships to focus their attention on them rather than the Dreads and the Nirvana as they recalled what the first Seed Ships did to the Nirvana and the Dreads.

“Damn those guys…they don't know when to quit!”

Meia had to admit that Hibiki was right and she hoped that the ground teams were already done with the fighting. Dita and Jura were also fighting with their Dreads and taking down several more Cube Fighters and made sure to back the others in their group up from attack. Several Dreads were already out of commission and were rescued by Gascogne while the reserve Dreads and pilots were sent into the fray, but they all knew that they had to hurry, even with all of their combined fire-power and equipment, they were not going to last forever…and it got even worse as the surviving Cube Fighters and Seed Ships were detected to be approaching them.

**************

Back on the ground…

Hilda and the rest of the Fire Teams were busy pouring it on as they each covered the other as they reloaded their weapons and maintained fire on the Harvester Troopers as the war machines continued their silent but brutal advance into their forces. The Warthogs and the Scorpions were firing with all of their arsenals with several key members acting as spotters to direct Scorpion cannon fire to support the strike team. However, they had gotten some more wounded as Carla, Fiona, Rena and Sheena were wounded, but thankfully not fatally as they were able to recover and were being treated by the medics. Only Hilda and Kara were left standing and were doing their best to keep their teams together and to not only distract the Harvester Troopers, but to protect both the Albatross and the wounded.

The entire field was filled with plasma fire on both sides, along with rockets, particle beams, needler crystals, bullets, DU rounds, Gauss rounds, and missiles as the fire teams held their own and fought the Harvesters who were being slaughtered but kept on attacking even if a large number of their comrades were already shredded and lay in messes near them. However, the two Fire Team NCOs knew that they might be overwhelmed soon as they were being whittled down as another one of their comrades was hit on the shoulder and a medic rushed in to heal her wounds and keep her safe.

They only hoped that the Master Chief had accomplished his mission.

**************

In the installation…

The Spartan took out the electrical detonator and primed it as he used up all the C-7 Foaming explosive and primed them to explode once he was clear. He still had the Fury TAC nuke with him and it managed to avoid any damage as he made his way into the power chamber…there were several large pillars that were filled with what he recognized as liquid plasma, this was the back-up power core of the installation. But as he approached, he was attacked by four more Harvester Troopers, but one of them was about three times the size and shape of the three others and appeared to be stronger than the others. And it appeared to be of a different grade and armor color scheme, being deep blood red and silver in color.

The plasma bolts flew as the four Harvester Troopers open fired, with the larger Harvester Trooper firing short streams of plasma instead of bolts like the others. This forced the Spartan to change tactics as he used the various obstacles as cover as plasma bolts and beams were everywhere. His shields took the damage as he fought on with the four units and he was able to even up the odds somewhat as he took down one of the Harvester Troopers and managed to wound the other two. But they kept on coming like zombies as the Spartan reloaded his MA5C with a fresh clip. However, he moved quickly away as the blade of one of the Harvester Troopers came too close to cleaving his weapon in half. He managed to move away and save his weapon and kicked the Harvester Trooper hard in the stomach and forced it back and followed up with a burst of bullets in the face. The second managed to force John-117 to drop his Assault Rifle and it attacked once more, but the Spartan blocked with his arms and grabbed the left arm and with all of his enhanced strength…tore the arm clean off in a shower of magenta colored fluid that covered the floor and he quickly punched the Harvester Trooper with intense force…crushing the side of it's head. This left the Spartan facing the bigger and stronger looking Harvester Trooper. The new unit released not one blade…but two and quickly attacked the Spartan, forcing John-117 to rely on his close combat training as he avoided the unit's slashes, the blades grazing his chest and flaring his shields. The Spartan dodged a powerful slash to his neck and then shoulder charged the unit forcing it back. He followed through and slammed his body right into the new Harvester Trooper type and took out his M7 and fired at point blank range…splattering even more of the magenta colored fluid. The Spartan looked about and when he was sure that he was not being ambushed again, he placed back his M7 and took up his discarded MA5C ICWS Assault Rifle and walked over to the massive liquid plasma power cores and then took out the Fury TAC nuke and set it to detonate in eight minutes. He then moved out of the facility as fast as he could.

As soon as he was at the surface, he gathered his strike team and ordered the Longswords to buy time for them and the rest of the Fire Teams as he and his commando squad made their way back at top speed, forcing them to leave the Scorpion behind. The Spartan and his forces made it back to the location and he ordered all the wounded and the Fire teams to pull back as the Longswords that were not assigned to attack the Power Plants used the last of their ordinance to aid in the evacuation of their comrades. The first onboard were the fire teams and the wounded personnel, along with whatever was essential. This included all the leftover munitions and weapons and he also determined the vehicles that had to be left behind as they would not be helpful…but since the rest were still functional, they were all taken,

As soon as the still functional Warthogs and Scorpions were brought in as the Harvester Troopers were disabled since before he took to the cockpit, the Spartan pressed the detonator and the C-7 Foaming Explosive blew apart the control nodes in the fourth floor. The results were explosive as every Harvester unit both on the ground…and in space went offline. As soon as he was assured that the fire teams and the wounded were all strapped in and were going to be safe, he ran a quick check and when he was told that all the systems were in good condition he then activated the Albatross' engines and punched the ship to it's limits at full speed as Cortana guided him. The engines were designed for rapid acceleration and the Albatross quickly gained altitude like it was an ICBM taking off from a silo. That was when the surviving Longswords attacked the power plants and the results were explosive as the Fury TAC nuke also detonated at the very same time.

The destruction of both the power plants and the facility's back up power supply resulted in a massive explosion that could be seen even in space as the Dreads detected the massive plasma energy discharge on the surface on the planet. The entire facility was brought down as it collapsed from the explosions inside of it as the Fury TAC nuke exploded and destroyed the back-up plasma power cores, resulting in a combined explosion that both blew the place up like a geyser but sent the entire structure crashing. The destruction of the power plants outside further added to the destruction as they detonated like thermonuclear bombs and glassed the entire surface of the battle-zone…the remaining Shield Towers were incinerated into atoms and the ground was turned into glass, and all deactivated Harvester units were reduced into nothing but atoms as the Albatross and the Longswords escorting it left the atmosphere.

As soon as the shaking stopped and the artificial gravity systems were activated, the Spartan and Cortana checked the Fire Teams and found them to be all in good condition and were all safe. That was a relief and an even bigger one as no one was left behind, they were all going home.

This gave the Spartan a sense of relief as he tapped the communications.

“This is Master Chief Petty Officer Spartan II John-117. The mission is successful…no losses, all Fire Team members and NCOs are alive and accounted for.”

In the bridge, the cheering of the women was loud as they knew that their friends were safe as they were holding their breath at the sight of the battle below. The rest of the Nirvana pirates cheered and breathed a sigh of relief as they had won this battle. The same could be said for the Dread pilots as they were relieved that their comrades made it back safe and alive.

Hibiki was smiling widely as he guided his Vanguard alongside the Albatross, along with him was Dita who was cheering at how cool it was to have both Mr. Aliens in their group…Hibiki sighed and complained that he was not an alien, while this made the Spartan smile slightly in amusement. He then contacted the Medical Bay…

“Better get ready there Doctor…we've got a lot of wounded up here.”

**************

Back on the Nirvana…hours later…

Magno and Buzam walked around the Medical Bay and were thankful as Duero told them that the wounded would all recover and be back on their feet without any scarring. The elderly woman was happy that the crews were all safe and sound, and she was also full of pride that they had pulled off the impossible and accomplished their first ground mission with success.

She was relieved that all of the female ground teams made it back safe and sound from the battle and were not fatally injured. And she had been a witness to the fighting as well as the others since they were given access to the helmet recorders by Cortana. They were amazed at how the battle had turned out as the ground teams had suffered no losses, but had plenty of injuries to go with it. The elderly woman felt that her decision to have the Spartan act as commanding officer for the ground teams was the right decision as the women were recovering and would soon be back on their feet in a matter of a few weeks.

The information the Spartan retrieved from the now totally destroyed installation proved invaluable as the maps told them of paths that the Harvesters used to ply their operations to harvest the organs of humans, and the maps would allow their ship to avoid areas which were too well defended for a strike by either their Dreads, by the VanDreads or by the ground teams. This minimized the risk of ambushes on certain paths…and while the elderly Captain knew that they Harvesters would not forget the destruction of the installation, and that they would always be pursued by the aliens…as long as they were all together, they would survive.

The elderly woman and the commander turned as the Spartan walked in, still wearing his Mjolnir Mark VI but bare of his helmet as he and Cortana moved over and he gave his wounded fire team members his commendations for them doing well on their first mission and his best wishes for them all to recover and be back on their feet. The female Fire Team members, including NCOs Carla, Fiona, Rena, and Sheena all saluted the Spartan and smiled that they all made it through.

In John's mind, they did well and he was happy that no one died, and he would make sure that they would make it through. He had no doubt that the Harvesters would not give up so easily after this staggering tactical defeat. He knew one thing from his many years of being a soldier…the battle here was won…but the war with the Harvesters was not.

It was far from over…

**************

To be continued…

**************

Author's notes:

Well, that wraps this baby up…sorry about the long delay in updates…I got swamped by a lot of extra paper work and therefore didn't have enough time to put updates a s frequently as I normally did, so please excuse me for the delays. Anyway, I hope that the ground battle was worth it, and if there are any flaws, please be nice enough to tell me in advance.

This will only be the opening battle, there will be more soon, and they will be even greater in danger and risk for the ground teams. Plus you can bet that the Harvesters will now be focusing a good portion of their efforts to thwart the Spartan and his ground teams from their missions.

Plus the new weapons on the Nirvana can only be used by Cortana as they are all UNSC based weapons. I figured that giving the Nirvana the ability to defend itself can add some extra spice to the story. The Archer Missile Pods and the 50mm Point Defense Gun Turrets are the starting weapons along with the MAC guns that are incorporated by the Paeksis into the Nirvana…effectively turning it into a warship. However that does not mean that Bart will only be the navigator alone, as he will also be able to contribute to the defense of the Nirvana soon enough, plus add to the combat power of the Ship…

Until then, Cortana will be the one to handle the deployment of the Longswords, and the defense of the ship, while the Master Chief will be the one to deal with the boarders just in case the boarding craft manage to evade Cortana's use of the guns.

The next mission will be familiar to you readers if you've watched the anime, and this time, Hibiki is taking the driver's seat. We're going to see what else he has learned under the Spartan and how mature he has become.

Trailer:

********

Hibiki growled as he looked over the information on the battle-field they were in, There was no way they could go in the area with Dreads, plus even the VanDreads would not be of much help…there was too much environmental hazards to deal with.

<I've got to think…there as to be a solution here somewhere…>

It was when he listened to the last of Jura's voice that he got an idea. If the Harvesters were so intent of using the environment as a shield…then what was going to stop them from turning the environment into an asset as well?

Only in his mind, the environment was not going to be a shield…but a weapon.

********

See you on Chapter 8 - Choices and Plans