Unexpected Alliance

Unsuspected Alliance – Chapter 1

(ஜ۩۞۩ஜ)

Sharo ‘Amas was an Elite Sangheili, a Sangheili warrior trained since childhood to fight. Yes, the humans did question the Sangheili’s tactics to training soldiers, but they hadn’t shot themselves so much that their home world nearly died. He bore UPSC armor, United Planets Space Corps, Elite grade containing a HRPSD, Heavy Regenerating Personal Shielding Device, a shielding unit that the Alliance had developed. The armor was forest green overall, a color that the old human corps had sported for centuries, if not millennia. Sharo had the sudden urge to say that he looks something like a Spartan, specifically Master Chief, only with a Halo:Reach ranger helmet and is Sangheilian. Anyway, Sharo’s squad was being deployed on a scouting mission, a scouting mission of all things! Yes, his team had voted this be their next mission, life of a freelancer, but an Elite’s squad! That was overkill; leave it to a squad of Human Hell jumpers if you asked him. They would be more than well trained enough to defend a scouting ship from invasion. And yet here he sat, in the control room, bored looking at stars and cosmos of an uncharted part of the Milky Way. Nothing out of the ordinary, not a single star out of place or planet cracking. He sighed, everything had been too normal lately. A red light began to flicker to life and a siren filled the room with cries of distress. Sharo was instantly in attention, looking out the view port at the boundless breadth of the universe. Just then a ship came into view, a Covenant Corvette, and here they were, a ship supposed to be the Corvette’s approximate equal. The crew began to scramble, moving for their station, and the Shipmaster shouting orders.

Then he heard the Shipmaster yell his name, “Sharo, gather your squad and get into your Long Sword, we need every able soldier to take that traitorous worm invention."

Sharo hailed a salute, his hand tapped his helmet, opening a comm link with his squad, “Uruo 'Fhahas, Jaqo 'Opran, Jhener 'Vrotal, Bernhard Eberstark, Markus Brown, come with me, we are to take our Long Sword and defeat these Covenant dogs.”

"Got it boss," replied Markus, "We're on our way."

Sharo heard the sound of their cannons firing and the rhythmic sound of their single MAC cannon charging, all but muted through the layers of metal that covered the ship. MAC cannons were a fascinating Human device, huge cannons that literally flung Tungsten Carbide shells at their foe using super charged electric magnets nearly beyond conceivable speeds. It wasn't something he would have recommended, flinging metal didn't sound like a great weapon, but when that metal is hyper dense and moving at speeds pushing the boundaries of sanity, then you had a gun. As he raced down the corridor, Sharo caught glances of the combat through the small view ports, the usually dark void was ignited with plasma fire and gun shots, small explosions already made the ports fill with light. Though the battle was peculiarly soundless, Sharo could still feel the force of the Corvettes cannon fire on the ship.

After a long sprint, Sharo’s fund his squad in front of the hangar doors, promptly pushing a button, Sharo watched the doors slide open to reveal one Long Sword left. A smile spread on his face, the mottled green and grey fighter sat there independent, metal shining like a mirror because they took good care of her, with reason of course. He moved towards it, their Long Sword was the best Long Sword. Or at least that was what he was told; a Human engineer had promised him that it had been installed with the latest FL weapons, shielding, and the fastest engines available. He reached the rear, smirking at the thought of roasting a Kig-yar pilot with their Forerunner Laser. The FL repeaters, or Forerunner Laser, used special Forerunner technology to charge light to such intensity that it could melt Covenant armor plating, making quick work of any fighter that stood in your way. Of course, like all Forerunner based weaponry, it was expensive and rare to see in actual combat.

He opened the rear door, it let off a defiant hiss then slowly fell downward on its pistons. Even before it touched down, Jaqo jumped into the craft, the minor made his way to the starting systems determined to speed up the progress. Sharo sighed; he was such a keener, always looking for a way to rank quickly. Sharo just wished that he realized that swift work was usually ended in careless mistakes. The ramp finally touched down, and the remaining soldiers entered. Marcus closed the door behind them, Jaqo was already activating the engines, Jhener, Uruo and Bernhard sat in the passenger seats and were strapping themselves in.

Sharo looked over the three; Jhener was a Spec Op, equipped with a special cloaking device and an ancient diamond edged sword, not to mention he spent at least 4 hours a day cycle training with that sword. Sharo understood the swords honor filled past, but the days of Sangheili slaughtering one another were over. His armor was made for sneaking, made nearly entirely from Kevlar, with an airproof layer underneath. A sleek, black glass face mask covered his head, about the only thing that wasn’t made from fabric. Yes, the Kevlar was treated to be fireproof and tough, but plasma was very hot, and would melt it if not for the LRPSD he carried.  He was a professional with SMG’s and small firearms, Sharo swore in a past life he was an Assassin.

Bernhard was a medic, just enough combat training to return fire, but enough medical experience to practically bring someone back from the dead with nothing but forceps and a needle. His light armour shone a glistening white, much to Jhener’s chagrin, and a red cross was painted on either shoulder pad. His helmet was simple, a piece of metal strapped to his head, a single lens covering one eye to give him a HUD. His face had a scar over his left eye, giving him a surprisingly brutal appearance, and a devilish smile combined with his German accent completed the whole ‘creepy doctor’ persona. Though Sharo knew of him as a friend and excellent medic, any other newcomer could mistake him for a mad scientist. Then again, Bernhard’s past was shrouded so he very well could have been.

Uruo was ranked a major, his armor a darker red, Uruo’s own personnel color choice and covered nearly every part of his body. His RPSD gave him a protection boost, and Sharo could see a large knife handle, his favorite knife, protruding from his right lower leg sheath. The armor itself was at least an inch thick everywhere, boasting quite a bit of protection. Any place not covered in the human blood red metal was covered by thick treated Kevlar. He too had his suit space proofed, a helmet with an currently un-polarized clear visor allowing access to his old eyes. The major looked up to Sharo and then down the hall, obviously hearing the same thing Sharo was, he didn’t talk much anyway.

Jaqo came running back to the Elite, standing in attention, “Sir, I have prepped the engines, checked the weapons, fuel, supplies and power, we are running at maximum capacity.”

Sharo raised a hand, “And what of our navigations, communications and shields?” Jaqo looked down to the floor, his head showing a face of embarrassment, Sharo sighed. “When will you learn young one that rank comes with time, not quick sloppy work. You will rise minor, but it will take time, now make sure that the items I have listed are operational.”  Jaqo gave a solute, then headed back to check the rest of the systems.

Marcus passed him, “Come on Jaqo, I need some help in the cockpit, you can check everything there.” Jaqo didn’t hesitate, following the human into the piloting area. Sharo shifted in his armor, Marcus may have been a Human sniper, but he just as friendly as any Sangheili was to one another. Sharo heard the engines flare, and so he sat down in the nearest seat, strapping himself in. He felt the ship shudder, elevate, then lurch forward. He turned so he could see how the battle fared through a view port. What caught his eye was the disturbing fact that there was less Alliance ships left than Covenant.

He tapped his helmet, “Come on you, you’ve slept long enough. Wake up Arianna.”

With those words, he heard a yawn then a robotic, but female voice responded, “I’m up, I’m up. Calm down, even A.I. need a little rest.” Her name was Arianna, a Sangheili A.I. Something they developed to help pilot ships.

He smiled, she was always the passive one, no matter how dire the situation she somehow managed to keep her robotic cool, “Arianna, I need to know how many Alliance ships we have left.”

He heard a computing sound as she accessed the records, “Alright, Star-chaser has…”

Sharo felt himself tense, “How many Arianna.”

He heard her gulp, “Star-chaser has 21% and dropping, we are losing ships fast.”

He felt one of his hearts skip a beat, “Only 21%... and dropping, something is not right, we are better trained than this, we should be dominating them. What do they have that we do not?” Sharo got and answer, a round disc like ship flew past them, blasting plasma their direction. He felt the ship lurch as Marcus and Jaqo avoided the blue death, and then he heard their FL turrets returning fire.

“Seraphs.” reported  Arianna.

Sharo tracked its location, “Seraphs?”

“Yes, Seraphs are the covenants interstellar fighters, we encountered them recently and they can do considerably more damage than Banshee’s can.”

Sharo cursed their luck; of course this Corvette would be loaded with them, why not? Another seraph tried to do a strafing run, only to receive extremely heated light for its effort. The FL repeaters cut through it the same as anything, and now they were going to show them whose boss! Sharo’s gut pitched as they pursued another seraph, aligning course before opening fire. The lasers chopped up the rear of the craft, running all the way through to the front and causing it to explode. He heard cheers as Marcus and Jaqo destroyed another Seraph, blue flames engulfing its frame. He wished he could be doing something, anything but simply watch as the other ships were destroyed, but their turrets were automated, main guns were controlled by the co-pilot and the ship itself was controlled by Markus.

They kept up the onslaught until Arianna spoke, sounding very solemn. “Sharo, we have less than 4% of our ships remaining, we can’t win. We should regroup with the Star-chaser and make our escape, or no one will survive.”

Sharo pounded a fist against the seat, “Damn… you’re right, Arianna send a message, tell them to retreat by order of the Elite.”

Just then, the speakers crackled to life, “Mayday, mayday! This is Scout ship Star-Chaser, our vessel is crippled, no engines, no weapons, no shields, we are dead in the water! Request immediate evac, we have 3% of fighters remaining, Covenant forces in Sector F-3-1-4-beta, message will repeat.”

Sharo recognized the shipmasters voice, if he was contemplating retreat, then they were truly doomed. As the message stated, the recording replayed itself over the speakers, being relayed as a distress signal. Sharo looked out the view port, seeing the blasted Corvette charging one of it's cannon. He cursed to himself as he calculated the trajectory of the shot, directly at the Star-chasers slip-space drive.

He put a hand against his helmet, contacting Marcus, “Marcus, get us out of here! If we’re anywhere near the ship when they destroy it, we’ll be flung into outer space, and the Long Sword isn’t designed to handle slip-space speed stress.”

Without even replying, Marcus steered the Long Sword away from the ship. But they were already too late, just then Sharo saw the light stream in from the view port, the signal of the end. The Elite warrior watched as everything seemed to stretch out, the sound of groaning metal and popping rivets filled the air. They were at slip-space speeds! Everything seemed to slow down, and Sharo heard every little groan in the metal and every curse spat by Markcus. He saw his team was doing to same thing, everyone inspecting every inch of the ship critically. Then, exactly when it all seemed hopeless, it stopped. Sharo sighed in relief,  before he heard the proximity alarm go off. Beginning to hate this mission even more than ever, he un-strapped himself not caring about safety regulations and made his way to the cockpit. He needed to make sure that everybody was alright, and he wanted to know what they were approaching first hand.

He opened the piloting door, first of all noticing the large sphere of dark landmass, and it was getting closer, next of all noticing two scrambling forms as they tried to regain control of the ship. Marcus furiously pulled levers and pushed buttons, desperately trying regain control.

"Damn it! Jaqo, try to pull us 35 degrees to the left, Fuck! We just lost another engine."

"Trying Marcus, we only have one good thruster. Wait, incoming debris!"

"Shields down, FL repeaters are gone, we're gonna get slammed!"

"Wait, the debris is staying around us in a circle pattern, we're fine."

"FINE!?! We are rapidly approaching an unknown planet, even if we survive the crash we don't know if the atmosphere is breathable, or even if it has one!"

Then the sirens constant short bleeps extended to a long dangerous whine, marking them beyond the point of return while Sharo watched in horror as the front of the ship seemed to catch aflame. The entire craft shuddered as they entered the unknown planet’s atmosphere; the last thing Sharo noticed was the other space debris they were entering with. As they burned downwards, bits of meteors followed with them, as if they were some center piece in a show. Sharo felt the ship shake, sending him sprawling off his feet. The only thing he remembered was the fact that the meteors were shining different dazzling colors as they burnt, and then black.

(ஜ۩۞۩ஜ)

"Damn it, Sharo is down!" yelled Marcus. Jaqo turned around, Sharo's head was nearly stuck in a wall a large dent where he lay.

"He's fine, let`s focus on landing. Use the flaps to control us!"

"Alright, flaps are sticky but workable. Come on baby, pull up!" cried Marcus in frustration. The ship gave another shudder as it hit a cross breeze, at least it had an atmosphere or else they would be dead in a crater by now. Marcus heard the sound of metal breaking just behind him. He turned around, "Jaqo, your seat is broken!"

The young Sangheili looked down to see that Marcus was correct, his harness had snapped "That isn't very good.

Looking through the roaring flames Marcus spotted what appeared to be a large forest, "I see somplace we may be able to land on, throw the air brakes open all the way!"

"Roger," replied Jaqo as he flipped a switch above his seat, "air brakes coming online!"

As the under trained warrior did so, he felt them lose a lot of speed. As his harness had snapped, he flew from his place and into the thick glass of the cockpit, cracking it along the entire surface. Marcus cursed again as Jaqo now lay unconscious and his left leg was bent in an unnatural position, it actually looked a little human now. The bottom of their ship touched the tree line, and Marcus' seat nearly gave out on him as well. The harness groaned as the seat lurched forward, the ship loosing tremendous amounts of velocity. Soon he watched as they began to sink beneath the trees and cringed every time he heard the sound of a branch scratching the ships paint. Soon they were rammed into the ground and he soon found that they were being dragged by leftover momentum. The Longsword began to shake and rock more violently than ever, earth showered the cracked cockpit and he saw entire trees fall on them. He felt his harness clawing at his chest as if his armor wasn't even there. The ship came to a screeching halt not long after, and Marcus leaned back in his seat, breathing a long contempt sigh. At least he knew the planet had an atmosphere. He looked up from the console, a dark forest stretched in every direction. He lazily undid the harness, he was sore, depressed and a little afraid. He breathed slowly needing every breath, wait, this planet had a breathable atmosphere! His hopes rose a little,if they could breathe then they could survive here and make repairs! Another thought crossed his mind, if this planet had a breathable atmosphere then maybe there was other life here as well. Of course, the first thing that came to Marcus' mind were devilish or ferocious predators tearing apart his friends bodies. He rose from the seat even in his hard breathing, he had friends in need and he was not one to betray friends. First he needed to check on the rest of the crew, then they could discuss their next course of action.