Bridge
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Caber didn’t have time for this. The imperial officer had ludicrously suggested all his navigation data was incorrect. “According to your records, these systems don’t exist” he jabbed a finger at the screen “yet according to my records this system” caber motioned out the front view screen at the illuminated planet bellow “should not exist, but it does. Now, I’m not sure wh-“ he was cut short as the ship violently shock from some sort of impact. He immediately returned to his command chair and opened his console. “Report, what hit us?”
“Imperial ships are firing on us sir” lieutenant Garza was frantic as he reported hostilities “No haul breaches but we have fires on decks 2 and 7, dispatching crews to deal with them” Caber hesitated a second before issuing orders “Bring ship to full combat status, all hands brace for maneuvering. Major Raza, arrest those men” he pointed at the imperial officer and his escort.
The major turned to face the imperial group “Now please co-“ she didn’t get to finish her sentence as the white armored troopers started to raise their short barreled weapons. The two Spartans flanking the major leaped into action with blinding speed, their armors edges seeming to blur in and out of focus. The one on the left stepping in front of the major he ripped the weapon from the man’s hands before lashing out at the white armored trooper’s leg, snapping it cleanly above the knee, kicking his other leg out from under him the trooper fell to the deck with a muted scream. The Spartan forced him lower to the deck with a boot on his back while pointing the troopers own weapon at the back of his head and drawing his pistol, bringing it up to aim directly between the imperial officers eyes. The rightmost Spartan simply stepped forward and punched the remaining trooper in the throat. Gasping for breath the man’s weapon clattered as he dropped it to the deck and slowly suffocated, soon joining his rifle. The entire encounter took less than 2 seconds. MP’s rushed onto the bridge to secure the two imperials. The bridge crew paused slightly at the violence but quickly resumed their duties. Caber brought up the comm to the hanger bay security team “Arrest the foreign troops, lethal force is authorized if they do not comply” switching off the comm he turned his attention back toward the bridge.
“Enemy ships are launching strike craft and pursuing sir, The Andromeda is moving to leave the system” Officer Garza tapped on his console and a hologram of the surrounding area appeared before the bridge crew, the Andromeda and quickly approaching enemy fighters were highlighted.
“Wendak, evasive maneuvers. Remove the safeties on one of our nukes. Calculate a firing solution on venerator class ship bearing three nine four” This ship in question was firing on both the Icarus and the Andromeda, and more importantly was blocking the Icarus’s best escape route. “Navigation, Bring engines to 300% power course adjustment bearing two eight four declination one one zero”
“Aye Captain bearing two eight four declination one one zero” Kim repeated his orders back to him and the view out the main monitor shifted slightly.
“Caden” The A.I. appeared next to his counterpart in the holotank “initiate Cyberwarefare, jam there targeting, overload generators, anything. Just keep them off our backs” The A.I. silently nodded and blinked away to bring the powerful offensive comm systems online and attempt to disrupt the imperials.
The fighters chasing the Icarus caught up and started peppering there engines with some kind of high powered particle beams that mostly did little damage, spinning up the Icarus’s point defense cannons Wendak decimated any fighter willing to come close enough for a shot, the heavy slugs tearing through the flimsy shields and hulls.
“Firing solution ready, on your orders captain” it had taken Wendak less than am second to calculate the trajectory, given that the distance to target was so low. Another volley struck the Icarus.
“Hull breaches on decks 4,5, and 11 sir” Garza reported before sealing of the decks, preventing decompression of the rest of the ship.
Caber gripped the arms of his command chair “Wendak, Fire. Navigation, follow the Andromeda and prepare for pinpoint slip space jump.” Bridge officers and Wendak responded “Aye sir”. The ship turned slightly, aiming the large barrel of the MAC cannon at a Venerator some 15 kilometers distant. The ship shook as the cannon was fired, a blinding streak flashed between the two warships, tearing through the upper shields of the venerator, punching through every single deck and the main reactor before destroying the lower shields of the vessel and continuing out into space. Fire and debris spewed from the large entrance and exit wound the high velocity tungsten round had created before the main reactor detonated in a blinding flash, vaporizing the ship and causing the shields of two nearby venerators of flare up and overload. Caber smiled at the efficiency of the round Not quite as tough as covenant ships then, good.
Weapons officer Scott reported there weapon readiness “MAC charge holding steady at 64.8% sir, trickle charging at 5 percent a minute. Should I acquire target locks on the damaged vessels?”
“Do so, officer Scott but do not fire until I give the command” Caber was worried about their ordinance supplies, while they had over 4000 archer missiles the nearest UNSC armory was very, very far away. “Wendak, Navigation, lets follow the Andromeda out of here and see if we avoid further damage”. Wendak, having been built specifically to pilot and fight Autumn-class cruisers, handled the Icarus like a sport Yacht and swung the beefy ship around to match the outbound vector of the Andromeda, bringing the engines to full power and charging the slipspace drive.
Aft hanger
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The hanger was empty except for the 2 squads Storm Troopers, a 60 person security team made of UNSC marines set up behind hastily constructed barricades, and 4 mantis walkers. ODST snipers had concealed themselves in the upper rafters of the bay and identified the squad leaders of the Trooper forces. Both sides eyed each other wearily, the storm troopers guarding the shuttle with the marines guarding the troopers. Both sides moved into firing positions as the ship rocked from being struck by weapons fire.
The radio buzzed inside the Platoon leader’s helmet “Arrest the foreign troops, lethal force is authorized if they do not comply”, The platoon leader barked at this troops and rifles hit the tops of barricades as 60 men leveled weapons at targets across the bay. Mantis walkers settled into combat crouches weapon pods sliding open to reveal dual chain guns, missile launchers and gauss cannons humming gently as there systems warmed up. The Platoon leader poked his head above the barricade.
“Surrender, we have your leader, hostilities do not need to escalate” the only response was a flash of red light that struck the barricade in front of him. Both sides opened fire, a few marines were struck by flashes of red light and went down either screaming or dead. The storm troopers, devoid of cover, were cut down. Mantis walkers advanced quickly, the heavy slugs of their chain guns cutting through the stark white armor like a knife through butter. The few remaining troopers retreated back into the shuttle and it began to hum. The platoon leader made a few quick hand gestures and a single mantis launched a rocket directly at the shuttle cockpit, reducing it a smoldering crater. Troopers rushed the ramp of the craft, dispatching the last few troopers and taking the co-pilot prisoner. Double clicking his radio, the platoon leader reported to major Raza that the hanger was secured.