Phalanx Vs. KuKu

[Kuran]

Phma Refumai'
CNV Temptress' Respite

The bleak silence that was space was interrupted quite abruptly by a flash of gleaming blue energy. The void that had been uninhabited moments before was, quite suddenly, filled with the massive bulk of a Covenant CRV-class Supercruiser. The gleaming purple hull of the warship slid through the slipspace portal it had opened, looking itself as if it were dormant. No lights flickered across the hull for several long moments, and any observers might have been forgiven for thinking that the ship was derelict. Right up until it went active. Lights flared, beams of energy coursed along the length of the sleek ship's hull, and for those inside, it was as if the ship was coming to life. Which, in a sense, it was.


Silently in the vacuum of space, the engines lit, and the huge ship began gliding slowly towards a distant planet....

(It's been a while, so i've got to get back into the swing of things...)

[Deleted]

Admiral Eric Klix
UNSCS Sratoga
Marathon II Super-Heavy Guided Missile Cruiser

"Sir! Slipspace rupture reported from the Remote Sensor Outpost. One Covenant vessel has entered the system and is barring in system. Intel suggests it is either a CCS Class Battle-Cruiser, Reverence Class Cruiser or a CRV SuperCruiser. We'll know more soon, sir." The Tactical officer said as the RSO collected data.

A normal re-supply mission for this developing colony went south in a matter of seconds. "Comms. Any Covenant Forces on the ground?" The Admiral quickly asked. "No sir, nothing reported as of lately." The communications operator responded. "Deploy all our ODST's, recall all Marines." Eric said as he hovered over the holo-table. The Covenant vessel had just passed the colony lines.

"Sir, RSO outpost confirms it's a CRV SuperCruiser." The tactical officer reported. The Admiral nodded. "Weapons, spin up the reactors. Charge our MAC Systems to ninety percent. Unlock all ARCHER and Shiva safeties. Designate the MLA guns to the AI." Eric ordered quickly as the holo-table updated again. The Covenant Cruiser was moving forward still.

"Sir! MAC Systems online. Diagnostics condition green, accelerators online and charging. What type of round, sir?" The Weapons officer said. "ARCHERs and SHIVA safeties unlocked. AI's got the MLA's." The operator added. Eric nodded. "Good. Two heavy rounds." He said. The heavy rounds were limited but more effective then the standard ammunition they used for the MAC System.

"Navigations, bring us out of the gravity well. Position us between the moon and the planet." Eric ordered. "Aye' sir. Engines online and hot." The Navigator responded. The Cruiser moved forward instantly at the speed of a UNSC destroyer as two of the three reactors the Sratoga had went into the engines.

The Admiral sat down on his chair and pushed the ship wide intercomm. "All hands to battle-stations. Tactical Condition One. All hand to battle-stations!" Eric ordered. "I repeat! All hands to battle-stations!" He added for good measures as the tactical condition set through out the ship. The running lights of the Marathon II ceased to exist and the bridge dimmed to a dark red so the console operators could remain operable and do there jobs as the red lights above there consoles provided the dark red.

The vessel turned its-self down to reserve power for the reactors in which made it easier for them to supply the engines with power and significantly reduced the MAC recharge times.

"Okay boys. Stay sharp." Eric said as he watched the Covenant Vessel come in system.

[Kuran]

Phma Refumai'
CNV Temptress' Respite
CRV-Class Supercruiser

"Fleetmaster!" Came the call from the deck below the Command chair. "One human ship detected!" The sensors operator's distaste for the humans was evident in his tone. More so when he had to name them. That man, Phma knew, was devout in the extreme, and the idea that the humans deserved names was as offensive to him as their desire to destroy the Covenant. For Phma, it was simply another enemy to defeat. "Cruiser-class!"

The Fleetmaster nodded, watching the movement of the ship in between the distant planet and it's small moon. A sound strategy, he mused, putting impassable objects to their flanks was a defensive move that perhaps on the ground would have been effective. In space, however....Phma coughed slightly, masking a small chuckle from his crew.

"Very well," He droned, eyes fixed on the various consoles surrounding his chair. "Helmsmaster, change our course to....one-five-seven, one-seven-eight. Bring us into high orbit of the moon, and keep it between us and the Human ship." The order was followed, and the ship began forward at a speed that, for it's size, was surprising. By human standards, at least.

"Shields to combat power. Weapons operators to their stations, launch all Seraph choirs. Both legions to make ready for battle." As his orders were acknowledged, the ship truly came to life. Within several minutes, the ship's complement of Seraph fighters were launching, forming a veritable cloud around their parent ship as it sped the hundreds of thousands of kilometers towards the moon, keeping it's bulk between the two ships as much as possible. Within the ship, two full legions were preparing for battle, fixing armor and checking weapons as they eagerly chattered, waiting for the chance to spill their enemy's blood...

[Deleted]

Admiral Eric Klix
UNSCS Sratoga
Marathon II Super-Heavy Guided Missile Cruiser

"Covenant Cruiser moving towards the moon, Admiral." The AI reported. "They are launching single ship fighters. They've taken up a defensive formation as the SuperCruiser moves forward. I've got the MLA's primed and ready to fire when they get into range." Dino added. The smart AI was always on the top of the game and because the MLA fire was AI controlled it meant they every round went where it was supposed to go.

"Sir! Should I launch the Longsword Interceptors?" The Communication Officer asked. The Admiral didn't think twice. If he launched his interceptors they would be destroyed in a matter of minutes against the hundreds of Seraph class fighters. "Negative, they would be destroyed. Tactical, what is the status of the Covenant ship?"

"The course they are on suggest they plan on using the moon against us. I've detected the Covenant ship trying to move behind the moon so it can likely flank us." The Tactical Officer assumed. The Admiral smirked. "Good work. Navigations, use our precision thrusters to keep sight of that Covenant Cruiser. Keep our MAC Barrels aimed at it. Weapons, prime ARCHER pods A1 to A10 and prepare a firing solution on the Covenant Fighters.

A1 to A10 was 1, 800 ARCHER missiles, out of the 36, 000 the Sratoga had. The ARCHERs where quick and decent against the Seraphs shielding. "Five missiles per Seraph." Eric ordered. "Warm up pods B1 to C10 if the Cruiser launches boarding parties." The Admiral added. He knew he has just ordered 3, 600 missiles to be warmed up and ready to fire at a moments notice.

"A1 to A10 warmed up and primed to fire. B1 to C10 warmed up." The Weapons officer reported. The Navigation officer had finally plotted a course and the Sratoga pivoted and launched its-self in an orbit with the moon, the barrel of their MAC weaponry pointed directly at the SuperCruiser as it tried to flank the Marathon II. Eric watched from the bridge view-port. The Covenant ship grew larger and larger every-second.

"Navigations. Prepare the engines for Emergency Military Speed. Weapons, I want a firing solution the moment the Covenant SuperCruiser is in range." Eric said calmly as he clasped his hands behind his back and strode towards the intercomm. He keyed the shipwide option. "All hands. Prepare for boarding parties." He said and looked towards Dino. "Initiate the Cole Protocol."

"Cole Protocol initiated, sir." The AI responded. Almost instantly all of the Sratoga's navigation data was purged. Luckily thanks to his Command Neural Interface the slip-space coordinates for Earth.. Reach.. And many other worlds still remained. They wouldn't be lost for ever. The Admiral sighed. What he would do for reinforcements.

"Counter boarding parties are gathering in position sir around all airlocks. All two thousand five hundred marines have reported in. ODST's have launched and are on the planetary surface. Crewmen are armed with MA5 Series of rifles as per your custom Tactical Condition One. Our total defensive strength is formidable for counter boarding action." The AI reported as he speed through the reports that were coming in. "Longswords have been warmed up just in case, sir. I know what you are thinking with the ARCHER missiles you've got targeted at them." Dino added and disappeared to somewhere else on the ship.

"Engines are operating perfectly." The AI's voice filled his CNI. Eric nodded, remembered that the AI couldn't see him and replied in text thanks to the CNI, acknowledging the AI.

"Sir, Covenant Ship is in maximum effective range for our MAC Systems!" The Weapons officer reported.

"Understood. Stand-by for orders." The Admiral responded calmly. His hand grabbing the stubble on his chin and scratching it.

[Kuran]

Phma Refumai'
CNV Temptress' Respite
CRV-Class Supercruiser

"The human filth dare to ready weapons, Fleetmaster!" Spat the sensors operator. Phma tolerated him most of the time, but they were entering combat now. "Control yourself or you will be removed!" He barked, glaring at the Sangheili warrior for a moment before dismissing the thought from his mind.

"Now then," He continued after a long moment, returning his attention to the displays around him. "Let us end this quickly. Prepare to fire plasma torpedoes. Full salvo." He got a confirmation from the crew pit, and pondered for a moment. "Prepare the energy projectors as well. Longest range, tightest beam."

Thought the ship, weapons were readied, plasma torpedoes were loaded and charged, but perhaps most importantly, the vessel's five massive energy projectors were spinning up. Firing beams of energy that could incinerate the very surface of a planet, they would currently be tuned to their tightest setting. This meant that while the destruction wrought would be focused instead of broad, their range would be increased drastically.

"Order all Seraph choirs into position behind the ship for now. Their use will come later on." Positioned all around the ship as they were, they were liable to be caught in the crossfire between the two larger ships long before they were in range. The single man fighters broke off almost immediately, retreating to take up station behind the ship.

"Are the firing solutions ready, Weaponsmaster?" Phma asked, only to be replied with a "Yes, Fleetmaster!" He nodded, mandibles clicking together as he mused, mentally reviewing the many battles with the humans that had come before this one. "Activate defensive protocol G, and fire when ready."

Phma chuckled slightly in spite of himself, causing a nearby Kig-Yar to jump in surprise. Protocol G entailed the use of the ship's emergency thrusters. In the event that a weapons launch was detected from the human ships' Magnetic weapons, all of the port thrusters would be ordered to fire, causing the ship to jump some hundred kilometers to the left. Very minute in the scheme of things, but enough to, with luck, avoid the large projectiles the humans seemed to favor.

"Fire when ready." He ordered upon confirmation. There was a moment of silence, and almost simultaneously, a full salvo of twenty-six plasma torpedoes launched, adjusting their courses to streak towards the human ship, taking on the appearance of a wall of blue flames. The energy projectors were held back, waiting for a reply from the humans...

[Deleted]

Admiral Eric Klix
UNSCS Sratoga
Marathon II Super-Heavy Guided Missile Cruiser

"Torps in the water, sir!" The Tactical Officer reported. The Admiral stood straight and calm, not even a glimpse of perspiration. He stood hardened and waiting. "Dino. Target one Plasma Torpedo at a time. The leading ones first. Rotate us so all sixty MLA guns hit the one torpedo." The Admiral said. Dino didn't reply but the Admiral felt the Sratoga list to the right and angled forty five degrees downwards. This unfortunately meant that their MAC systems where not pointing at the Cruiser anymore.

The Sratoga erupted in a steady and continuous rate of fire as every single MLA round tore the first torpedo apart, moved on the second.. Third and fourth and continued to demolish the incoming weaponry as the concentrated fire made them look like paper tissue on fire. "That's actually working?" A crewmember said who was locked in the bridge as the bridge blast doors had sealed. Him and seven others made the small security team for the rather large bridge for the Marathon II Cruiser.

"Sir! First torpedo impact will be in fifteen seconds!" The Tactical Officer reported. The AI chimed in. "He is correct. Well the MLA field is being effective for now it won't stop all of them. Roughly ten of the original twenty six torpedoes will get through," The AI said. "However-" The AI was beginning to say before the Admiral cut him off.

"Stand by. Arm two starboard emergency thrusters. Dino, warn the ship." The Admiral ordered and seconds later the Klaxon designed for "BRACE FOR IMPACT" roared to life, the rotating yellow and red lights surrounded the bridge and the Admiral sat down cross legged in the middle of the bridge between the holo-table and the Tactical Display Screen. "Six, Five, Four!" The Tactical Officer said.

"NOW! Detonate prepared emergency thrusters!"

Eric flew into one of the console operators who was strapped tight as the two prepared Emergency Thrusters fired. The strategically placed devices propelled even the largest UNSC Ships kilometers if they needed to avoid something quickly, like an asteroid or in this case the ten plasma torpedoes that wanted to gut his ship.

The Marathon II shoot hundreds of kilometers away from the planet and moon, and the Covenant Warship. The torpedoes arched as they started to chase but the MLA's started firing on them as they arched forward and sideways. The deathly weapons getting shredded by the MLA's field of fire as the magnetic propelled rounds disrupted the plasma ball, depleting them as they came in for the kill.

The last torpedo disappeared and the MLA fire stopped. "Navigation, point us towards that cruiser! Dino, track it's movement and correct the fire!" The Admiral ordered. Since his weapons were already charged and firing solution was ready the Sratoga corrected herself and fired. Twin bolts of lighting raced across the space between the Marathon II Cruiser and the Covenant Cruiser.

"Emergency Military Power now! Get my guns back online!" The Admiral ordered. Knowing that the Covenant Cruiser had just depleted there own weapons they used the most to destroy UNSC Warships. Thanks to the Emergency Military Power from the three modern fusion reactors the MAC Systems were charged before another round was actually reloaded and ready to fire. It only took a series of seconds for the ship to use all it's reactors, in which three of them, to charge it's main weapons.

"MAC Systems fully charged. Reloading rounds now!" The Weapons officer informed. "First Salvo will impact in fourteen seconds. Time elapsed already: Twelve seconds." The Weapons officer reported.

[Kuran]

Phma Refumai'
CNV Temptress' Respite
CRV-Class Supercruiser

Phma watched as the plasma salvo was shredded by the human point defense weapons, somewhat impressed in spite of himself. It was rare that a single torpedo didn't make contact with it's target. And the maneuvers used were, in fact, similar to the ones planned-

He was snapped from his thoughts by the low wail of an alarm. "Two projectiles incoming, Fleetmaster!" Came the call, explaining the alarm, which was cut off. "Fou....twelve seconds!" Phma paused for the briefest of moments before issuing the command. "Fire the thrusters as planned."

The ship, all eleven thousand feet in length of it, bucked as the port emergency thrusters fired, sending the ship veering off left several hundred miles. Phma, now knowing from his displays that the Magnetic rounds would miss his ship, he returned his thoughts to the destruction of the humans.

"Recharge the Plasma torpedoes, take aim with energy projectors. Center all five on one point." The weaponsmaster turned from his console for a moment to look up at the Fleetmaster. "What point, Fleetmaster?" He inquired, to which Phma responded, "The point of origin for the first Magnetic weapon. Fire when ready."

Moments later, there was a shudder through the ship, and all five energy projectors fired simultaneously. The bright, tightly focused beams of light all converged on the same point at a respectable fraction of the speed of light. Each beam would, presumably, impact on the exact same point on the ship's hull, burning through it's armor to an area approximately halfway down the length of the MAC's barrel.

[Deleted]

Admiral Eric Klix
UNSCS Sratoga
Marathon II Super-Heavy Guided Missile Cruiser

In a blink the Admiral was sprawled on the floor again, damage reports filled the tactical screen and five Covenant Projector beams pierced through the night, intentions were unclear. It didn't matter. "Emergency Detonation to port!" The Admiral yelled. The AI responded the the ship slid hundreds of kilometers to the right of the Covenant Warship. "Damage report!"

"The beam was concentrated. Down to one milometer of armor where the impact happened from the original seventeen meters. Running weapon diagnostics now... Done. We've lost two accelerators down the barrel but it's intact. It's hot, but intact." The AI responded.

"Vent the atmosphere inside the MAC chambers." Eric quickly ordered. The AI did just that and the barrel cooled quickly as the vacuum cooled it off. "Weapon barrel is cooling down sir. Ready to safely discharge the weapon in fifteen seconds.

"Get us back on target. Is the MAC loaded?"
"Yes sir!"
"Fire when ready!"

The Sratoga jumped as two more rounds shot from the cruiser, the top one trailing after a second but not by much. It would lose speed and kinetic force but it was still more powerful then a Destroyers Magnetic Accelerator Cannons, the SSAK-78. The twin lightning bolts raced towards the Covenant Cruiser.

"Get a firing solution for twenty thousand archer missiles and a SHIVA. Use all reactor power to recharge the MAC Systems. Tell those reloading crews to get a heavy round in the barrrel NOW!" The Admiral ordered as the warning klaxons continued to whine. The Sratoga stopped as the weapons became ready before the initial salvo had hit home, two heavy rounds were loaded thanks to the automatic reloading system, meaning the rounds were inserted almost instantly into the receiver of the Magnetic Accelerator Cannons rather then a crew inserting the rounds manually.

"Solution online!" The weapons officer reported. "FIRE!" The Admiral ordered again and the Sratoga started to groan from structural stress from the continuous discharges that surrounded the hall as two MAC's left there barrels, chasing the first salvo in. 20, 000 ARCHER missiles shot forward, hiding a SHIVA Nuke from sensors as the head surrounded it. In the distance between the UNSCS Sratoga and the Covenant Cruiser lay four HEAVY MAC rounds, 20, 000 ARCHER missiles and a nuclear warhead masked in heat signatures.

"Salvo one impact in seven seconds, Salvo two in twenty one seconds. ARCHER missiles impact in seventeen." The Weapons officer reported. The bridge crew quiet.

[Kuran]

Phma Refumai'
CNV Temptress' Respite
CRV-Class Supercruiser


Despite over two decades of service to the Covenant Empire, counting hundreds of battles and minor engagements with everything from the Kig-Yar to human forces, Phma watched the display in front of him, which had previously been mostly empty, and now was exceedingly full. And despite everything, he felt a small sense of dread as he could tell at a glance that the level of firepower arrayed against them.....was a serious problem.

And there was really only one thing that could be done. As he watched the first two projectiles (More magnetic rounds) closing, he called out an order that had already been used once. "Emergency thrusters, full forward." With a momentary pause, there was another jarring lurch as more still of the emergency thrusters were used. The large, one shot engines were being used far faster than they should have today....

The ship jumped forward, but the thrusters hadn't been used fast enough. The large projectiles glanced off of the shields, causing them to flare as the entire ship shuddered. "Fleetmaste-" One of the engineering overseers began, but Phma cut him off. "No time. Activate emergency protocol seven! And charge the pulse lasers. Order all legions to their craft!"

The helmsmaster hurried to comply. A brilliant flash of blue light appeared in front of the Covenant ship, and just as the first of the archers slammed into the severely weakened shields, the ship simply....disappeared. In it's wake lay most of the thousands of projectiles the humans had launched, suddenly without a target, and further on, a portion of the Searph fighters which had been left behind. They hurried to skirt out of the path of the archers before veering around in a large cloud to bear towards the far distant human Cruiser.

The Temptress' Respite reappeared exactly seven seconds and several hundred thousand kilometers later. It slid from yet another brilliant blue portal....on the opposite side of the human ship from where it had been. What was more important, it was significantly closer, a mere few thousand kilometers distant. With it had come some hundred and fifty of the Seraphs, those that had been close, and a sizable chunk of the Archer missiles that had been bearing down on the ship. They scattered in all directions, some hitting the cloud of Seraphs, many shooting off into space, their guidance all but destroyed after the pressures of slipspace. But still some contacted with the large ship, causing it to shudder as a chunk of the upper starboard disk was turned into the mechanical equivalent of mincemeat.

"FIRE EVERYTHING" Phma literally roared, both pleased that the human would finally be destroyed and enraged at the damage his ship had no doubt taken from both the human weapons and the abrupt slipspace jump. Despite his order, not everything could be fired. What was fired, however, was significant.

Seventeen of the twenty six possibly plasma torpedoes launched, all that had been charged at the time. The roughly half of the nine hundred and sixty pulse lasers that were on the side of the ship facing the humans all ignited, targeting mostly obvious weapons points such as the point defense weapons and anything that jutted from the hull. And once more, five energy projectors, only at half charge after their firing, streaked out, aiming towards the rear quarters of the ship at what sensors pinged as an area of large power output.

Such firepower was not without it's drawbacks however. The shields were down after their beating and the slipspace jump, leaving the Covenant with only the vessel's armor to hold against return fire. Though, Phma mused as hell was unleashed, it would be a miracle if anything was fired back at them, given that they were at a nintey degree angle to the human ship, which would have to turn quickly if it wished to fire it's main weapons again.

[Deleted]

Admiral Eric Klix
UNSCS Sratoga
Marathon II Super-Heavy Guided Missile Cruiser

The Admiral watched as the SuperCarrier entered slip-space and reappeared dozens of hundreds of kilometers away. "Son of a *****!" The Admiral swore. "De-activate all remaining archers. Reload ARCHER missile pods. I want everything available!" The Cruiser re-slip-spaced in, right beside them.

"SIR! Covenan-" The Tactical officer begun to say before the plasma projectors fired again. The half charged lasers penetrated sixteen of the seventeen meters of armor they had. Any more of a charge and it would have pierced the ship. The pulse lasers however where a different story and did manage to pierce inside the hull. "Emergency Military Power. Reactors to nine hundred percent! Get us away from here!" The Admiral ordered. The Sratoga shot forward and revealed the true speed it had. It accelerated forward at a considerable speed leaving behind the pulse lasers which impacted sections of the hull but where off target from the sudden acceleration and the plasma torpedoes didn't have a hope as they were still seconds from impacting. Sure they'd track but they, the UNSC, were faster for once. The Sratoga accelerated past the Frigates maximum speed as the reactors pushed everything it had into the Marathon 2 Cruisers engines.

"Port engineering armor down to sixty three percent, Admiral." Dino informed. "Outer hull breaches, but no reactor damage. We've lost seventeen point defense guns, twenty two confirmed casualties." The AI responded. "We are loosing them. Our sublight speed is a considerable design advantage, Admiral." The AI added.

The Admiral lost men, and took damage. "What about the inner hull?" Eric asked. "Decks eight, nine and ten, section seventeen, C-1 to C-3 are unresponsive. I've sealed the area but I assume they are melted. Firefighting crews are responding to fire outbreaks but it is being contained." The AI replied.

"Weapons? Status of the ARCHER missile reloads?" Eric asked. He had kept a single reload of ARCHERs if the pods were depleted. "Slow, sir. Most of the pods were destroyed by the pulse lasers. We've got roughly five thousand available, plus another two thousand once the expended pods are reloaded." The Weapons officer said.

"Tactical, what's the location of the plasma torpedoes?" Eric asked as he looked at the holo-table. "They are chasing us, sir. We are faster then them." The Operator responded. "Navigations, please disengage from your console." The Admiral ordered. The man responded quietly and the Admiral took a seat and quickly got to work. He turned the ship completely around and tracked the incoming plasma torpedoes.

The Sratoga was now pointing directly at the Covenant Cruiser as it was reloading everything it had, the plasma torpedoes altered their trajectory for a collision course. The Sratoga closed in. The Admiral typed something into the console and his Marathon II Cruiser shot upwards, back down and again pointed directly at the Covenant Cruiser, the plasma torpedoes now trailing. The movement made an upwards V.

The Sratoga glided underneat the massive Covenant Cruiser. Eric typed in a command that angled the human cruiser up and leveled off hundreds of meters away at its midsection speeding away, the plasma torpedoes tracked the movement and started to head towards midsection of the ship that just fired them.

The Admiral sighed. "Sir, we're are running out of breathing room. Reactor meltdown in five minutes." Dino said. The Admiral plotted a course that took the Sratoga in evasive measures away from the Covenant Cruiser. He got up and the operations officer quickly re-manned his console.

The Admiral glanced at the Tactical Officer. "Did it do anything?"

[Kuran]

Phma Refumai'
CNV Temptress' Respite
CRV-Class Supercruiser

As the human ship abruptly shot past them, it was clear that they were damaged, and so were the Covenant. Momentarily, as the human ship sped away, Phma allowed himself a moment to worry about his own ship. "Damage report?" He asked, somewhat hesitantly.

"Seventy eight confirmed casualties, Fleetmaster. Decks Starboard seventeen/ five to twenty/fourteen are gone. Airlocks sealed, response teams are containing fires." The weary Sangheili nodded, mentally adding up just how long repairs would likely take. He was about to order the recalling of the Seraphs when an alarmed shout came from the crew pit.

"Fleetmaster! They return!" Phma looked at his displays; it was true. The ship was....almost, on a collision course. It was far too late to attempt evasive manouvers, with the speed of the human ship, but their course would, it seemed, take them...under.....

"Weaponsmaster!" He called hurriedly, "Deactivate the plasma torpedoes!" The crew, well trained, hurried to obey, and so as the human ship passed beneath them, trailing torpedoes, they were already dissipating. It was not quite fast enough, however, and the plasma splashed onto the covenant ship in places, searing pulse turrets from the hull and creating minor breaches.

"Return fire!" He ordered, and as the human ship passed immediately underneath them, another salvo was fired at the fleeing vessel. Now facing the other side of the Battlecruiser, the firing of the other four hundred pulse turrets-directly into the glowing nacelles of the fleeing ship's engines- was complemented by quarter strength energy projector beams. Surely, he thought, such fire directed into the glowing engine outputs would cause it to go critical....

[Deleted]

Admiral Eric Klix
UNSCS Sratoga
Marathon II Super-Heavy Guided Missile Cruiser

"Admiral! I've detected energy buildin-" The AI reported before manually detonating one of the emergency thrusters on the bottom of the Sratoga. It wasn't fast enough as a few pulse lasers and the energy projectors hit one of the lower right engine nozzles, but not the two main engines. The Sratoga slid upwards and away from the laser fire. They had to reload again.

"I am sick of these mother fucking Covenant in this mother fucking system!" The Admiral roared, his anger blistering. "DAMAGE REPORT!" He screamed over. The Engineering officer was quick to respond. "G deck, sections 3, C-4, 5, 6 and seven are breached. Internal damage, explosive decompression on lower decks. Sealing all effected areas. Fires are spreading." The Engineering reported. "That laser was a few inches to the left and it would have disabled the reactor core. Engines still operating at nine hundred percent. Deadline in four minutes forty seconds." The man added.

"NAV! Turn us around. Weapons, Emergency Military Power!" The Admiral ordered. "Sir, the MAC Systems are already charged and ready to fire." The weapons officer reported. The Sratoga turned to face the damaged Covenant Cruiser.

"Unlock EVERYTHING and fire it! NOW!" The Admiral ordered. "Firing solution. Archers impact four seconds after the first salvo MAC impact. Navigation, transfer all reactor power to the MAC Systems. I want our guns reloading as they are shot!" The Admiral demanding, his face turning red.

The Sratoga shook as the UNSC Cruiser fired the remaining ARCHER missiles, a total of 6, 733 ARCHERs were inbound, masking the seven SHIVA nuclear missiles. Seconds later the Sratoga vibrated and groaned in protest as the MACs fired. Two bolts of lighting few forward. "Admiral, using all reactor power to get the guns charged!" The Weapons officer reported. Well they were dead in the metaphorical water they still had emergency thrusters available and maneuvering thrusters at that.

"Second Salvo, aim for the engine room!" The Admiral ordered and the Sratoga moved to the right, it's muzzle aiming at the center of the ship near the area around the engines. The UNSC Cruiser fired again and groaned in more protest as the structure from the vibrations threatened to shake the UNSC Cruiser apart.

"Third Salvo, aim for the noise!" the Admiral demanded from his crew. "Aye, Admiral! Weapons at sixty.. Seventy.. Eighty.. Ninety.. One Hundred! Firing!" The Weapons officer reported. The Sratoga detonated again, sliding slowly backwards as the recoil from their own gun pushed them away. They were still sitting without engines, all power going into the Magnetic Accelerator Cannons.

"Don't let them away! Fourth salvo, right in the middle!" The Admiral growled. "Admiral, I can't allow you to do that!" Dino reported. "The structural strength around the MAC mounts is weakening. More shots might disable the cannons. I suggest waiting to see what happens before firing again."

"Very well, weapons! Status on the barrage!" The Admiral said more calmly. "Missiles and first salvo impacting in five seconds, second salvo in eighteen and the third in twenty eight seconds!" The Weapons officer reported.

The Admiral took a breath out. "Charge the slip-space drives. We might have to bug out. I won't lost this ship, it's crew or civilians we have aboard from our attempted re-supply." The Admiral replied calmly, looking over at the NAV officer who nodded.

[Kuran]

Phma Refumai'
CNV Temptress' Respite
CRV-Class Supercruiser

Phma watched the clearly unstable human commander turn his vessel around and actually dare to fire at them. And again....and again.....He sighed. He should have brought the fleet. So much for a quiet reconnoiter.

"Summon the rest...." He sighed. "B-but Fleetmaster, the Prophets were insist-" Phma cut the communications master off with an abrupt wave. "Do it. I will deal with the prophets."

The master acknowledged, and they returned to the more immediate business at hand. "The starboard and fore emergency thrusters are still operable, correct?" He queried as he watched the ship firing a third salvo. "Yes, Fleetmaster," Came the reply. "Fire them....now."

The ship lurched, out of the patch of the incoming MAC rounds, but not of the missiles. "ALL EMERGENCY POWER TO SHIELDS!" He called over the roar of the thrusters, and he watched as the shields were fed immense amounts of power at the same time that they were pummeled with archer missiles. The shield held for only a few moments, but it was enough to detonate a large portion of the projectiles, which were further thinned out by the auto targeting Pulse lasers.

Still, many made it through, and the ship was rocked with explosions, sending the bridge crew staggering. "Damage report?" Phma queried. It wasn't good, he could see that for himself. Most of the Plasma torpedo launchers were inoperable, as well as three of the energy projectors....casualties would be high, he knew.

Further thoughts were cut off by a trio of sudden arrivals. The signatures of three CAR-class frigates appeared from their own slipspace ruptures, bathing both combatants in pale blue light amidst the darkness of space. They had departed from the extreme edge of the system a minute before, and arrived now, coming out in a perfect triangle around the human ship, no more than a dozen kilometers away from their opponent. Despite the fact that their engines would not be operable for some time, their weapons were.

Phma could only grin as the three ships unleashed their own hell, a total of some three hundred sixty pulse lasers, but perhaps best, three energy projectors, all on full power, all aimed to strike the dead middle of the ship.

[Deleted]

Admiral Eric Klix
UNSCS Sratoga
Marathon II Super-Heavy Guided Missile Cruiser.

"Sli- M.. They are firing, sir!" The Tactical officer reported, referencing the slipspace of three Covenant vessels and the build up of energy. The white flash was good enough that the Admiral detonated two of the starboard emergency thrusters. The slip pushed its-self away but was still clipped by the faster then light weaponry. The ship vibrated violently as the lasers punched a hole through the rear starboard side, into the engine room and out a secondary engine.

"Damage report!" Eric barked. "Weapons, fire our main guns at the lead frigate! Re-purpose all ARCHER missiles in the void between space the the Covenant Cruiser for the second Covenant Frigate.!" The Admiral said as he took a seat in his chair and accessed his tactical pad. 10, 032 missiles lost target of the Covenant Cruiser when it jumped into slip-stream space. They still had fuel to make a journey. The Sratoga jumped again as two rounds at close proximity jumped out of the UNSC Cruisers barrel, took five seconds each to sail through space and obliterate the first Covenant Frigate. The momentum from the ruined MAC breached Frigate sailed it into the second one as it collided. The superstructures of the two ships warped together and they both detonated in a bright purple. Only fragments existed after and the two ships ceased to exist on the sensor screens.

"Belay the last orders. Re-purpose all ARCHER missiles for the remaining Covenant Frigate. Navigation, plot a course, 600 percent reactor power. Get us away from this battleground. Engage slip-space drives and take us out system, now!" Eric ordered, scrolling across the data on his tactical pad. The ARCHER missiles had just engaged their reserve tanks. They streamed over top of the damaged Covenant Cruiser as they, all ten thousand remaining individual missiles, headed directly towards the Covenant Frigate.

Using the heat mask, the Admiral also moved and stopped the remaining six SHIVA nukes directly above the Covenant Cruiser and cut the engine power. The SHIVAs stopped moving and stopped producing any type of heat as the exhaustion nozzle cooled before the last of the ARCHER missiles stopped.

The Covenant Cruiser fired again, a crippling shot as the projector it had sliced through the starboard side and into the heart of the Marathon Cruiser, the reactor room. The projector stopped and the Admiral got up from the deck. Monitors littered the deck, sparks sounded off everywhere and a fire was starting in the bridge and on the floor above. The Admiral watched from the view-port of his crippled Marathon Cruiser as the ARCHER missiles hit home, the kinetic force from the impact of the Covenant Frigate's Projector pushing them away and to the right since the laser hit the rear section of the ship. He already knew the damage, as he was reading the reports on his tactical pad.

The ARCHER's detonated along the shields, some were destroyed by pulse laser fire, but the majority hit the shields, popped them and detonated against the length of the hull. By the time the explosive force of ten thousand missiles cleared, the Covenant Frigate was severed and showing massive hull breaches across the vessel, the ARCHER's completely obliterating the outer armor and decks. The Covenant Frigates structural rib burned.

Without another though the Admiral detonated the remaining six SHIVA's, which were positioned less then a kilometer away and above the damaged Covenant Cruiser. Now the UNSC filled the battlefield with a piercing white of there own.