Alpha One: The Kronan (26 page)

The Halo 7 penetrated Earth’s shields at her allocated entry point and she moved into the upper stratosphere, now safe and protected by the shields above.

“Halo 7, we have you on visual. Welcome home. You are cleared for docking at Alpha One, docking bay ten.”

This was far too cheerful a greeting,
thought Hoskins. The traffic controller was obviously oblivious to the events off-world.

The replacement Comms Officer confirmed the landing arrangements and the pilot commenced his run in.

Hoskins could not quite believe what just happened. He used Carter as a pawn to allow his ship to escape and probably condemned the Lieutenant to his death. After all the effort to protect him, now he was gone.

He did not feel relief—that would come but there was still the apprehension. The Kryl were on their doorstep and the SED would not hold them for long. So, how long did they have? Shenke talked about Koenig wanting the Halo 7 for a special mission, but was unable to specify what. Was that mission still valid?

Irrespective of Koenig’s plans, he needed to be home and would make sure he spent some time with his wife and son before he was called into action once again. It had not been the longest tour but it certainly was one of the hardest and the most challenging. As for Obeya...well, she would wait for him. She understood...he had a child now.

“Sir, Admiral Koenig requests your company at the Admiralty as soon as we land.”

“Acknowledged. Take us down slowly Mister Tims.” Hoskins was in no hurry.

* * * *

“Come in Commander. Take a seat.”

“Thank you, Sir.”

Hoskins took a seat in front of Admiral Koenig’s desk. Koenig seemed remarkably calm, bearing in mind that invasion was imminent.

“What is the condition of the Halo 7?”

No pleasantries; straight down to business. Koenig was renowned for his no nonsense approach,
thought Hoskins.

“She has damage to several decks and the main hanger bay was destroyed. The main drives need some work.”

“How soon can she be ready?”

“A week at least. She is in a bad way.”

“You have forty-eight hours. I need you to patch her up and get her back out there. You will head out to the Styros Cluster, where you will join a fleet of one hundred and fifty ships of the line, under the command of Admiral Martin.”

Hoskins was astounded but tried not to show it.

“Can I ask why we have a fleet in the Styros Cluster? That’s a hell of a long way from home. Is there something going on out there? I didn’t know Admiral Martin was operational?

“Martin is a good tactician, a patient and fastidious organizer, and he is perfect for this role. Yes, it is a long way away—deliberately so and no there is nothing going on out there whatsoever. The fleet is simply waiting there and they may have to wait for a long time.”

“But...”

“As a five star commander you will take a senior position within the fleet. You and the other senior officers will be the only people who will know the real reason for this deployment. It goes without saying that this is highly confidential.”

Koenig waited patiently as Jonathan Hoskins took in what he was told.

“This is our Contingency Fleet. It is there because it is possible that without it, the human race will cease to exist. The worst case scenario is that you will never return, or that when you do, there are no humans left. The best is that you lay in wait until you are contacted and then you launch an attack on the remaining Kryl on Earth. In either event, it is highly likely the fleet will remain in exile for many months and potentially years. Do you understand the importance of this role and the magnitude of the task you are undertaking?”

“Sir, I have family on Earth.”

“Without this fleet there will be no chance of them ever being free again.”

“It sounds as if you have admitted defeat already.”

“Far from it. We will continue to fight to prevent the Kryl from invading. The contingency has been in place for some time. It is there as a backstop and for me and my chief advisors—a reminder that it is far from all over. As for your wife and child, I will bring them into my protection and I can assure you they will be safe.”

“Not if the entire population of Earth is wiped out!”

“That is very much a worst case scenario. We need our best commanders to participate in this fleet which is why I have selected you.”

“Do I have any option?”

“Of course. You can refuse. However the Halo 7 will still go, as will your crew, who will be unaware of either the destination or the potential duration. I believe you have someone on board the Halo too.”

Hoskins laughed. “You are remarkably well-informed.”

“Admiral Martin is a friend of your family, is he not?”

“I will need longer than two days.”

“Why?”

“I need longer with my wife and child.”

“Not possible. Earth could be lost very soon and the chance to leave will be gone.”

“What will happen to you?”

“Does that matter?”

“Not particularly. Why are you not going with the fleet?”

“I did think about it but no.”

“Can I ask another question?”

Koenig nodded.

“Why can’t we just bring the fleet here and attack the Kryl?”

“Because if they were unsuccessful, there would be nothing left. The memorandum and articles of Alpha’s incorporation make it clear that the human race must be preserved above all other interests. This is the most important aspect of our existence. You will lead the preservation of our species—a very important job. Are you in?”

Hoskins paused for a while before responding.

“Yes, I am in.”

“Good. Two days maximum . Remember that you must disclose this to no-one—not even your wife.”

Hoskins was about to protest.

“I will look after your wife. In time, I will bring her into my inner circle. She will be safe, as will your child. You have my word.”

“Thank you, Sir.”

There was nothing more to be said and Hoskins left the Admiral’s office. He needed a drink.

* * * *

“You are here for just one day!”

“Yes. I am sorry. Do you realize how bad things are out there? I was lucky to get twenty-four hours with you.”

“What about your son...don’t forget him!”

“How could I? We need to use this time. I don’t know how long it will be before I see you both again.”

“You said that with meaning . Is there something you’re not telling me?”

“No. It is the same every time I start a tour.”

“Where are you going and is that Obeya bitch still on your ship?”

“No. This has nothing to do with her. I really can’t tell you where I am going, as I am not sure myself yet.”

“You never could lie on both fronts. I am just the mother to your child.”

“No! Come with me. Let me prove that you are the one.”

“I don’t think so. You can spend the next couple of hours with Oliver but then I think its best that you go. If there is anything left of our relationship, then we will pick up on it when you return. I am not waiting for you anymore.”

“Sarah!”

“Two hours, Jonathan and then I want you gone.”

Jake awoke with a thunderous headache.

It took him a few moments to grasp his surroundings. He realized he was still aboard the Eagle shuttle, but something felt different. He managed to stand and clambered over to the pilots chair before collapsing again. God his head hurt.

He reached above his head, grabbed the medikit from its compartment, and pulled out a small hyper syringe. Clumsily, he then pulled up his sleeve, hovered the syringe over his forearm and administered his contents.
That should take care of the headache,
he thought.

He could see from the cockpit window that the Eagle traveled at sub-light velocity, which was curious given that both drive systems were off-line. Closer inspection confirmed his worst fears—the shuttle was attached to the side of Morvalt’s cruiser.

Now Jake understood what was different
.
His mind was clear of all encumbrances, Morvalt no longer controlled him. Now he had him in his clutches, there was obviously no need to control him.

The pounding in his head was clearing now. Where was Morvalt taking him? He looked outside again to try to gauge his surroundings but it did not look familiar. They were travelling at sub-light-speed, so he assumed their journey would be a comparatively short one
. If that’s the case
, he thought,
I have to prepare quickly.
He needed a survival pack, weapons, a comms device and anything else he could lay his hands on which he could conceal on his body to make ready for whatever Morvalt had planned for him. Quite what that would be filled him with dread, but he had to be ready. He would not let the Kronan win.

It all became clearer as a further gaze outside revealed their destination. The Kryl fleet stood in front of them, stretched out as far as the eye could see. It was a formidable sight with the red glow of the Kryl fleet underbelly glowing against the backdrop of the sun. There in front of the Kryl was Earth, resplendent in blue, quite the most beautiful planet and yet surely, she would fall to the power of the Kryl.

They headed into the fleet now. The Queen ship was dead ahead. Morvalt’s ship slowed as she prepared to enter the cavernous void that was her hanger bay.

Jake tried not to panic. The Queen Ship was vast. Whatever happened now, somehow he had to try to escape from it. His confidence ebbed when Morvalt’s ship entered the hanger bay.

It was so much more than that. Stretching far into the distance in every direction, there were literally hundreds of Kryl cruisers. Some were docked, some on landing pads, and others were stacked ten high and across. This was a vast fleet in its own right. How had they ever expected to defeat this? The sheer scale of this ship was unbelievable. The vast space sport stretched as far as you could see and yet this was just a small section of the Queen’s ship. This was not just a city ship, it was a small planet!

Morvalt’s ship slowed. It headed for a large platform landing shelf which was two to three hundred meters across. It was empty but lit up with guiding lights to aid the landing process.

The Kryl Cruiser landed cleanly. There was a hive of activity as Kryl drones appeared from nowhere. It all seemed rather surreal. Jake tried to think. He did not know whether he would be given
a chance to escape, but he had to be prepared. He tried to establish his bearings and manually reset his digital compass so that north was his ship. As long as they did not move it, he would know which direction to head if given a chance.

The security door section to the Eagle was meant to be impenetrable from the outside. Jake proved that wrong before when he blew the doors apart with explosives. The Kryl had just opened it. Two drones searched him but found only a comms device and not the items carefully hidden inside his tunic and trousers. He was gestured to follow them out of the shuttle onto the surface of the landing deck. He did not resist—it was pointless to try anything at this stage.

A loan figure stood on the deck. He looked more important than the others, still with the same pallid grey complexion but he stood out. It was Morvalt.

“Jake Carter. I finally get the chance to meet the killer of Navalion.”

Jake did not speak. He had no idea what to say. Even if he could think of something relevant as a reply, the words would not have come out. He was so scared. He shook violently.

“I would have expected courage from someone who killed a Kronan and yet you shake uncontrollably. I presume you decided I am one Kronan to many?”

This time Jake forced himself to speak, “What do you want of me?”

Morvalt laughed. “Want? I want you dead. However, the Queen has other plans. Perhaps when she has seen you, she will return you to me so I can finish you off! For now, Mister Carter, you are our guest. Tomorrow you will be escorted to attend an audience with the Queen. You are indeed very fortunate—no human has ever had the privilege.”

Jake said nothing. He was in control again. The sight of the Kronan reminded him vividly of his recurring dreams, which had , at least in part become reality. Now, he needed to be strong. If he was going to get out of this, he needed to concentrate.

Two drones gestured for him to follow and a third followed behind. They were heavily armed but he could still take them out. He just needed the right opportunity.

Over a third of the twelve thousand SED Jump Ships were lost on the first day as the campaign extended into its thirty-ninth hour, less than half of the original number remained.

Admiral Koenig just met with his SED commanders and their summary of the battle situation was bleak. Koenig needed to make a decision.
Is surrendering a possibility?
He tried so hard to avoid this scenario but his commanders were right.
What was the point of losing endless, needless lives if the end result was the same?

Yet...there was still the contingency fleet and Shenke had fifty or more ships formed into a cohesive battle group, which would still join the skirmish if invited. There were some fifteen hundred remaining Jump Ships from Shenke’s original fleet which, combined with the remaining five and half thousand SED ships, meant there was still a considerable force available for a final stand.

Even beyond that, Earth’s shield system was at maximum strength and SED’s other two divisions had their part to play. Surely, they were still a long way from surrender. He avoided calling his two chief advisors in on this thought process. They had already made up their minds so asking for their advice was counterproductive. Quite simply he must keep the battle going—there was still a chance, even if it was only small.

* * * *

Steve Costello was back in the thick of it. With today’s wing man ignoring the rules of engagement, both were enjoying rich pickings while leaving themselves open for blind side attack strategies. Steve exhausted his supply of Tigers and his shields were verging on critical. However, he still had full plasma charge and there were plenty of opportunities to add to his growing tally of kills.

Starting in the middle of the skirmish, they drifted to the more dangerous Kryl side of the battlefield and faced the Malchian Arrows for the first time . Steve’s knowledge of them was based on reputation only and he waited for the opportunity to test his skills. His wing man thought otherwise.

“We are into the big fighter field. I suggest we double back.”

“Ah, come on Baines. If we stick together, we can take these guys on. Let’s give it a try.”

“You and I don’t do teamwork. Okay, we’ll give it one run but you wing me, not the other way round.”

“Okay, I’ll stick to you like glue.”

Baines was a good pilot—an SED graduate of some ten years, who had seen it all and learned his trade the hard way. His kill ratio was one of the best in the command and he knew it. Under normal circumstances he would have done anything not to be paired up with an Alpha graduate—especially a rookie—but he viewed Costello as an exception to the rule.

Baines started the run perpendicular to two Malchian Arrows, which were coming in from left to right across the Kryl fleet. He allowed them to come in close, before swinging round and setting off behind them. Steve tucked in tightly behind his lead and stuck there. He was not going to let go—not until he had to or a kill prospect became apparent.

The Arrows were fast and the two Rapier 6’s had difficulty keeping touch. They had them where they wanted them.

“These guys are running scared. I thought they had this fearsome reputation!”

“Don’t take it for granted. I have never seen a Rapier out maneuvered by anything other than a Sabre. These guys can shift and we are pulling at maximum G through these turns. I think they’re playing with us.”

“We are still chasing them. Let’s see if we can get a lock.”

“Yeah right. Just remember where you are. If you lock onto anything, it’s gonna be me!”

A trace of Baines’ Scottish ancestry arose when he was under pressure. His accent became stronger the harder things got. Right now, it was broad Glasgow.

A sharp turn to the left confirmed Baines suspicion. Somehow both Arrows were behind them and Steve was suddenly under plasma fire.

“I am taking evasive.”

Steve swung right, then left, and then pulled upwards sharply to avoid Kryl weapons lock but they hung on.

Baines was left behind but he saw the thrusters of the second Arrow. From here, he could get a lock.

“I have one of them. Get back to my wing. We can lock on to this bastard together.”

“Sorry mate. I have one myself and he is not shifting. I am going to try something a bit different to dislodge him, then I’ll pick up your tail.”

Steve took the Jump Ship into a flat spin and accelerated outwards before pulling sharply back. He then flipped away to the left and forced a second spin. The Malchian had not anticipated the second spin and was caught in Steve’s afterburners. Steve swung round and had the Arrow in his sites with full weapons lock. He fired all three plasma cannons directly at his target and then pulled back again. The damage was done and the Arrow lost inertia. He was outmaneuvered and Steve had him where he wanted him. He brought the Rapier close in behind and then applied maximum thrust as he spun the Rapier passed the Arrow while wing tipping at close range. The effect was instant. The Arrow was caught in a vortex. Steve fired two more salvos straight into the path of the Arrow. The plasma fire hit the Arrow pilot’s canopy, forcing it open. The Malchian was sucked straight out. Steve finished him off with two further cannon bursts.

Content with his first ‘Big’ fighter kill, Steve returned to Baines’ wing and hung on, while Baines tried a sequence of his own. Baines used his experience to try to flush out the Arrow but the Malchian fighter just had too much power.

Steve managed to keep pace but now backed off. His power reserves were dangerously low.

“It’s no use. My reserves are creaking. I am going to have to pull out on this one.”

“You’re kidding me. I’ve got this son of a bitch on my sights and you are pulling out!”

“I‘m down to eight percent.”

“Oh, Christ. Okay, I am pulling out and taking your wing. I suggest you take the quiet route back. You don’t want any excitement with so little power.”

* * * *

The Squadron Leader called Costello and Baines into his office.

“Once again, you both flout the rules and disappear into the heavens. What the hell were you doing out there?”

Costello smiled, “Catching big ones...and we got one.”

“Your orders were to stay in the pack and support each other.”

This time it was Baines’ turn to respond. “We did and between us we had twenty hits. We drifted off and they were just there so we thought we’d give it a go. They are a completely different proposition to the normal fighters.”

“They are known as Malchian Arrows. As far as we can tell the Malchians are different castes to the other pilots, hence the larger and more powerful ships. They are a nasty bunch but if we stand any chance in this battle, we need to take them out. You guys have just volunteered to join the battle group going to do just that!”

“Sounds fun. When do we start?”

“You don’t—not here anyway. Take four hours and then report to Squadron Leader Figuera. She is heading up a dozen squadrons of Sabre 4’s and the Arrows are her forte.”