The worst thing about being in charge of an advanced war fleet was the boredom.
It had been millennia since I'd actually had to go and do something myself. All of my Princeps were way better at commanding the fleet than I was, and everyone knew what to do. Mendicant Bias only made things smoother since it was able to take my thoughts and use them accordingly.
The only real thing I had going for me right now was the freaking Gacha!
[Gift from beyond the veil, 1x Random Gold Ticket] (Blayze_Messner)
Speak of the devil. Roll it!
[Spinning, spinning, spinning, done!]
[Physical Trauma Response]
|Elite Ability|
Your flesh, it hardens in response to physical trauma. When you take sudden impacts and/or strikes above a certain threshold, your muscles, fat, skin, and every layer of your body at the point of impact compact and lock together briefly, forming an armored layer that defends you against physical trauma without impeding movement.
Great, another thing that my body already does!
Even the novelty of the Gacha had started to wear off. Don't get me wrong, I love it and am happy I got it; I just wish I got more exciting things instead of things I can already do, but better.
I was currently flying back to Installation 04 the long way, through the void, since it was a bit of mental stimulation for me. I wouldn't get back before the Vengeful did, but it would be interesting.
My frigates were busy clearing out the Library on Installation 05. Turns out the Flood hadn't been killed all the way, as a Proto-Gravemind was coalescing beneath the surface. This was the second time something like this had happened, and I wasn't happy.
I'd given the Princeps of the frigates standing orders to cleanse every inch of 05, as well as the surrounding system. I know they will still be there when Regret and his fleet arrive, but I don't care.
I really don't want to deal with a Flood-infested High Charity.
I have other plans for the Covenant capital city/space station. I've been planning them for a while, am its finally getting closer to time.
I eventually return to Installation 04 to find the Covenant fleet has mostly gone away, except for the few ships still hanging around the still-down Truth and Reconciliation. Breaking into their battlenet, I hear them arguing about the ship.
Cortana, as usual, is up to no good. This time she's captured the Truth, and Keys has moved the remaining humans on the ring onto the ship. There had been a minor Flood outbreak, but with nearly all the Spartan-IIs here, it was no problem to deal with.
Right now, Blue Team was on its way to the Autumn's crash site. Keys still wanted to get as many supplies from her as they could, so plenty of support was sent with Blue Team as they prepared to scuttle the ship.
As soon as he realized I was here, 343 obviously came to complain. He wisely kept quiet when I informed him that a replacement ring was already being made for him on the Ark, so he was forced to let this one go.
I sent him off to play his part in this mess as one of the remaining Covenant ships also left the system. Why? I had no clue, but this would make things much easier. Since I was already in the void, I simply sped up as I shot towards the ship.
They obviously noticed me, but not soon enough, as I weaved between point-defense fire. My suit alerted me to several attempts to lock onto me, but I was too fast for their targeting systems.
Since this ship was a simple CCS-Class Battlecruiser, I simply punched through the hull right where the excavation beam was housed. This set off a chain reaction that crippled the ship as I burst from the top.
I watched her vent atmosphere as her captain likely tried his best to save the ship. Knowing that Keys and the humans were likely watching this, I decided to put on a show for them. As I began condensing an insane amount of energy between my hands, I grinned at the thought of Cortana freaking out.
I let the energy build up for nearly twenty seconds, more than enough time for the humans to realize what I was doing, and for the Covenant ship to launch one last futile salvo. Dozens of Gaster Blasters appeared to tank the plasma, as I shot towards the ship once more.
When I was a mere 200 meters away, I released the energy and winced as I was blown backwards by the blast. Despite the suit's visor polarizing, my vision was either white or full of static as the suit struggled against what I'd just done. The hands were obliterated, of course; mine were fine.
The Covenant ship, however, was nothing more than irradiated slag. There was almost nothing left of it, with the few bits still left not being much larger than a 50-meter piece of hull, likely from the rear of the ship.
I flagged the piece of hull to be dragged away so I could store it as a memento as I descended upon the ring. I'd gone a bit too hard since I passed swarms of Sentinels repairing the bit of damage that had reached the surface.
It wasn't much, but I'm glad 343 was down on the mining rig and not here to complain. I stayed in the air as I followed the last convoy heading back to the Truth andReconciliation. Blue Team and Cortana were doing their thing already, so I knew it was almost time for this ring to blow.
I still wanted to meet Captain Keys face to face, however, so I donned my helmet and descended into an open troop bay. Marines and ODSTs were there waiting for me with rifles in hand; I ignored them as I made my way towards the bridge.
Keys and Major Silva sent out orders for their men to stand down, but I didn't miss the ONI agent who was following me to the bridge. I still don't understand how they can be so stubborn at times; it's really odd.
I ignored the ONI spook and the glares from the ODSTs as I entered the bridge. It looked like any other Covenant bridge, only a bit more ornate and bloody from all the fighting. Keys and Major Silva were looking at me, but the few technicians they had were trying to piece together the ship to get her into orbit.
"I'm assuming you're the alien ONI has been hunting? Cortana told us you were here." Keys said, and I nodded. Silva scowled but kept his mouth shut as I spoke lightly with Keys. I didn't tell him much, just that I wasn't going to be messing with them, and that any Flood specimens found would be destroyed, that sorta thing.
Once I was done with Keys, I left the Truth as I made my way over to where Blue Team was getting ready to blow the Pilar of Autumn's fusion reactors. As easy as I made it look, it was still a pretty cool thing to watch happen.
Along the way, the Gacha pinged as usual to tell me I'd gotten another goody.
[Gift from beyond the veil, 1x Random Gold Ticket] (KingJr66777)
I rolled the ticket as I reached the Autumn, making sure to slowly destroy the few Flood forms marching toward the crash site.
[Spinning, spinning, spinning, done!]
[Exorcists Light]
|Uncommon Ability|
Allows you to conjure and emit an exorcising light; while utterly useless against normal beings, it is incredibly useful against dark or unholy beings.
Neat.
Now inside the ship, I started making my way towards Engineering while making sure to kill any Flood and Covenant that I came across. I also took control of the Sentinels 343 had brought with him to have them comb the ship. I wanted no Flood left that wasn't burning.
Once I made it to Engineering, I found Blue Team had begun opening the reactor vents to chuck in grenades. Linda and Kelly were on the other side from me, since I found John and Fred, who were now looking at me.
"Nice of you to join us. Care to lend a hand?" Cortana's voice came from John's external speakers. I shrugged, letting them hop onto the vents before I opened them, letting them take out both on this side as the compartment shook.
"That's this side done. We only need to wait for the other two to finish up, and we can make our way to this service elevator." Cortana said as she marked something for the Spartans. Though not visible to me, my suit was able to breach theirs to find where they would be going.
I zoned out and just let myself follow behind Chief and Fred as they went to help Kelly and Linda get back up to their level. I was snapped out of it when the Chief offered me a rifle from a long dead marine.
I looked at it, then looked at him silently. "Chief, he's capable of flying through the void. He'll be ok." The Chief silently slung the rifle over his back as he kept the shotgun in his hands. I noticed he also had a sidearm mag locked to his him.
I said nothing but followed behind them as Cortana gave them directions. As they moved, I picked up speed to spur them on since the ship was starting to fall apart. Cortana called both Keys and Echo-419 to give them a heads-up as I called the service elevator down to us.
As the elevator descended, I moved past the Spartans to tear open the bulkhead and turn the Covenant riding the elevator to paste. Blue Team then jumped in as the elevator descended, but it failed as it plummeted down.
I ignored the groaning Spartans as I got to my feet and kicked off the floor. I shot down the maintenance tunnel since several Sentinels had raised the alarm; Covenant craft were coming in hot.
As I flew, I gave Cortana updated information so she could get Blue Team to the hangars and into the Longsword. It was one of the few things Keys had left behind, and it was a good thing he did.
I listened in on Cortana as she gave Echo-419 the location she would have to be at to pick them up. "Belay that order. Covenant flyers are coming in hot; get out of here while you can, Echo-419."
Cortana yelled at me, but the second I was out and tearing apart Banshees, she quieted down and directed Blue Team towards the hangar. I spotted Echo-419's Pelican almost a full kilometer away, and shot off to help her as several Banshees took turns firing on her.
She was flying as best she could, but the banshees had her locked down tight. Within moments, I was there and tore two of the Covenant ships apart as Echo-419 blew the last one out of the sky herself.
"Thanks for the assist!" She called over the radio.
"Get out of here, Echo. This ship is about to blow. Link up with Keys and the others; we'll be right behind you."
She flashed a confirmation signal and turned tail. I took out another trio of banshees that were getting too close before I dove back down into the Autumn. Already, the ship was falling apart from having sat in the desert, but with the reactors going critical, things were already starting to blow.
I quickly found Blue Team racing along the access way in two Warthogs. I shot past them as they cleared a gap, and I began clearing the way for them to get through. It seems the Flood had sent everything it could here since that was the biggest massing of them so far, but there were plenty of Covenant that Key's last sweep must have missed.
Regardless of origin, Sentinels and Gaster Blasters fell upon them all as I began moving things myself. Crates, fallen beams, fuel cells, everything that might get in the way of the Spartans was shoved aside or thrown into a mass of enemies.
As I got closer to the hangar, Keys started contacting Cortana to find out what they were doing. The remaining humans had already gathered on the Truth and Reconciliation, and they were now clear of the ring.
The only ones left here on the surface were Blue Team, and Cortana was doing her best to fix that. I was still ahead of her, however, as I reached the hangar and shoved aside everything in their path.
I then entered the Longsword to let Mendicant do his thing as he started up the ship. Quick math also told me there wasn't enough space for all four Spartans on this tub, so we quickly grabbed another, and I moved it into place next to the first as Mendicant worked his magic.
Cortana and company chose that moment to burst into the hangar as they gunned it for the Longswords. I unleashed dozens of Gaster Blasters to burn the mass of Flood chasing after them as the Spartans split to each of the fighters.
The ship then began shaking even more violently somehow as Mendicant grew impatient with the humans and piloted the Longswords out himself. Cortana rightly freaked out but calmed down when Mendicant gave control to them once we were clear of the blast.
"I still can't believe he can just fly like that," Kelly murmured as I waved at her and Linda. Chief and Fred said nothing as I locked my feet to their Longsword, facing the ring to watch the blast.