Halo: Defensive Lines

Halo: Defensive Lines

By RockDownCA

Author’s Note: The following story takes place after the events of Halo: Combat Evolved and before the events of Halo 2. Many facts have been derived from the three Halo Books already in print, these books being…

Halo: The Fall of Reach
Halo: The Flood
Halo: First Strike

Halo: Defensive Lines follows the story of the UNSC’s stand against the Covenant Armada seen in the Halo 2 Trailer. Mind you, this story may have contradicting facts to the book Halo: First Strike, I am trying to work these out. Also, this story has yet to be edited, and thus contains errors in various spots. The final edited version will be posted soon. Without further delay, I give you the story.

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Admiral Sisko stood in shock as the final reports came in. The planet of Reach had been glassed. Sisko lost all strength in his legs, and was forced to sit down. “How could this be, the fortress world of Reach is the most heavily defended world under UNSC jurisdiction.” The UNSC HQ artificial construct ‘Zeus’ of course answered that question. “With the combination of superior numbers, weapons, defenses and speed all contributed vastly to a Covenant victory.” The AI Zeus rubbed at his beard, from the holographic interface on which it stood. The ‘god of all AI’s’ was easily the most sophisticated AI the UNSC possessed. It alone was able to mange an entire small task force with great proficiency where as normal AI’s were only able to effectively manage a single vessel, with human assistance of course. “Give me the final roster Zeus…” asked Sisko. With in a split second of that request, a tally of the battle statistics appeared on Sisko’s monitor. Sisko poured himself another glass of Whiskey; he gulped it down with ease and continued his reading. Of the original 150 UNSC capital ships that engaged in battle, only two dozen had survived. The four Super MAC cannons that protected the fortress world all annihilated. The world’s surface transformed into an uninhabitable baron wasteland. It was easily assumed that no one on the surface survived the Covenant glassing process. Interestingly, one ship, the Pillar of Autumn, had lured the vast bulk of the Covenant task force away from Reach leaving behind a small skeleton force behind. Still, Reach had been one of the most vital assets to the UNSC. Close to 80% of the shipyards were located either on or in orbit of that World. Weapons construction, research and training for the vast majority of the fleet was done on the surface of the now fallen planet. The only comfort afforded to Sisko was the fact that Covenant losses were extremely high. Of the 350 capital ships used in the assault, over 80% of them had been destroyed. The remaining 20% went off chasing the Pillar of Autumn. Admiral Sisko had known that ship’s commander, Captain Keyes. A good man, he led the UNSC to a much-needed victory on Sigma Octanus. Hopefully he could do the same once again with the predicament he found himself in. Sisko also knew the Pillar of Autumn for another reason; it contained over two dozen of the Spartan-2’s. The vessel was tasked with capturing a Covenant ship and assessing the location of the Covenant home world. Of course Reach had changed all that. “Well Zeus, I think I shall now be retiring, the misses at home has been a little nervous these past few days. I think I shall go home early for a change.” The holographic image of the Greek God smiled, “That would be advisable admiral, various case studies indicate that…” Sisko smiled, he forgot that he was talking to ‘the god’ of AI’s. “Good night Zeus” cutting of his assessment. “Pleasant Evening Admiral.” Sisko exited the situation room, and walked down the corridors of UNSC HQ. He exited the two hundred stories plus structure and entered his vehicle.

It had begun raining a half an hour during the ride home. Sisko exited his vehicle and was greeted with a warmer then usual rain. Sisko walked up the footpath that led to his home, moving toys out of his path here and there. Sisko opened the door and smiled. “Daddy!” screamed his daughter in delight, the eleven-year-old girl running down the hallway to greet her father. “How’s my little angle today?” asking this while he picked up his daughter from the ground. He hugged her with all the loving care a father could give. “Today, we learned about the Spartan’s in class, how they saved Greece.” Sisko smiled, the irony in all of this. “That’s great honey. Listen, I want to hear all about these Spartan’s after dinner, right now, I have to talk with your Mommy.” His daughter Suzy smiled. “Ok dad, I love you…” Sisko smiled, despite these troublesome times, his family still brought an indescribable joy to his heart. “I love you too Suzy, now go draw me a picture of a Spartan.” She nodded and was off like a shot. Sisko removed his coat and disposed of it over a near by chair. He then entered the kitchen where his wife stood, her back to him, she was chopping up vegetables on the counter. “Have I ever told you how much I loved you?” His wife Mary stopped and turned to face Sisko. “What’s wrong Sisko?” Sisko wore an expression of shock. “Did I say something was wrong?” His wife’s expression was that of a forced smile. “We have been married for twenty years, you have been apart of the UNSC for twenty-three. Every time you enter this house, and say I love you, means something went bad at work.” Sisko had to smile, his wife really did know him all too well, which made this much more difficult to go through with. “Reach got glassed today.” His wife’s expression sank, the blood from her face drained. Sisko approached her and wrapped his arms around her body. His wife spoke into his ear, “And Garry? Any word from him?” Sisko had to be very careful about this, not to get her hopes high, but not to distinguish them either. Garry was Mary’s son from a previous marriage, he volunteered for the UNSC at the age of nineteen. He served as a crewman on one of the many ships that was engaged at Reach. Though a few ships did indeed survive the confrontation, it was unknown whether his vessel did survive or was destroyed at the hands of the Covenant. “Mary, I am doing everything in my power to find out. Right now, communications are a mess. We are sending a task force to investigate the remains of the World and assist the surviving ships. Right now, Garry is second on my list of priorities.” His wife shrugged away from him, those last words being a little too powerful, no, idiotic in use. “Oh, and what could be more important then finding out whether my son is alive, or just another name on the weekly casualty list. Tell me Sisko, what is number one on your sadistic little list of things to do.” Sisko breathed in for a moment. He was telling his Wife privileged information that the rest of the World would not know for another two days. He moved toward the liquor cabinet, grabbed a bottle of Whiskey and poured himself a glass. He engulfed it, finding the strength to say the words that were on his number one list of priorities, or to be more accurate, just the one word. “Earth” he spoke, placing his glass on the counter.

The night had gone over more smoothly then Sisko could have thought. His daughter Suzy educated him on how the Spartans were able to beat a superior army of Persians in defense of Greece. Him and his wife sat at the living room, observing the window, drinking and talking about life desires never fulfilled. There was no kissing or hugging or sex, just talking. What a wonderful experience it was, half intoxicated talking, watching the Sun emerge from the horizon. His wife had fallen asleep a half an hour following sunrise, giving Sisko time to admire her true beauty. That was before he was interrupted by a message. A priority Alpha One message flashed on Sisko’s screen in his private quarters. He placed his thumb on the identification pad and spoke quietly as to not disturb his loved one’s slumber. “Admiral Sisko, clearance level Alpha One.” With those remarks, the text ‘Access Granted’ Flashed on the screen, followed by a communiqué from UNSC HQ. Sisko read the text for no more then a minute, before his heartbeat skipped a pace. “My God” he whispered to himself. “They found us…”

The War room was filled at only five percent of its total capacity. The two hundred meter wide room was only occupied by two dozen men and women. However, these two dozen all had one thing in common, Alpha One security clearance. Sisko took his respective seat at a large half circular table that faced a single stand. Behind the stand was a twenty meter wide holographic imaging platform from which Zeus stood. The room drew to a dead silence once the Commander and Chief entered the room. He stood at the stand, overlooking the War room. He cleared his throat, placed on a pair of glasses, and began reading from a sheet of paper. “Approximately two and half hours ago, long range sensors picked up a single Covenant scouting Vessel just outside the Sol System. The Vessel completed two intensive scans before withdrawing from the system. The day we have feared has finally come upon us gentlemen, the day that the Covenant find the location of Earth. As you all know, it is the Covenant’s policy to glass all worlds that are or have been occupied by humans. We are certain they will attempt to do the same with Earth as they just have done with Reach. Should Earth fall, we may as well slit our own throats and save the Covenant the trouble. However, we are here today to agree upon a strategy to create an effective defense against a Covenant invasion. Those with Alpha One clearance or higher are all present in this room. Those with Alpha clearance of any kind will be informed of the developments with in the hour. Tomorrow, Those with Beta, Gamma, and Delta clearance will be informed. By the end of the week, we shall go public with this. Gentlemen, we need options. Zeus, estimate how long until the Covenant can muster an Armada to invade us.” The C and C turned around to face the AI construct. Zeus brought up holographic tables and charts and pointed to them as he spoke. “Base on previous engagements with the Covenant when planets were involved, it often took the Covenant a minimum of five Earth Days to muster an effective attack force. However, the losses inflicted upon them in the battle for Reach will surly delay them an extra day or two.” The holographic statistics vanished as the various heads began to pondered the information being fed to them. Sisko was in command of any fleet actions conducted in the Sol system. So the bulk of the pressure was on him. General McCarthy stood from his seat, he smashed his fist against the table surface in a clear show of anger. “God damn these Covenant to hell.” Rear Admiral Foster stood from his position. “Actually General, I think that is what they are trying to do to us.” The C and C stepped in once again, to reclaim the focus at the matter at hand. “Look Gentlemen, this is not helping. We need options, not witty comebacks.” The C and C took a deep breath before he continued. “General McCarthy, how does your situation fair?” The General regained his pasture and addressed the room. “I can have the entire Military population on Earth armed and ready with in twenty-four hours. However, I must stress that these men will serve very little if this world ends up being glassed.” That fact was true, the battles won on the ground have had very little effect on the war to date. General McCarthy’s comments thus had real merit. Victory would be determined via fleet confrontations, not ground engagements. If only, only there was some way to fool the Covenant, to give Earth a chance. Just then, a wave of new ideas presented itself to Sisko, he stood up. A plan, a hope, a very chance for a longer existence, Sisko spoke. “Zeus, how many vessels did we have stationed in the Sol system when the Covenant completed their scans?” Zeus in his white toga was quick to respond. “We had the standard forty-three cruisers, twenty-one destroyers patrolling the system along with an additional fifteen vessels under repairs in the shipyards orbiting Earth.” Sisko’s mind was bustling with new options, new ideas. “Zeus, the Covenant are still unaware of our Navy’s true numbers, correct?” Zeus brought up a holographic transcript of text along with an I.D. shot of Admiral Cole. “So long as the Cole protocol has been respected to this date, then my assessment is a ninety-six percent probability of the Covenant being aware of the UNSC’s exact numbers.” Sisko had the information that he required. He informed the room of his strategy.

It had been eighteen days since that meeting had taken place. As of three hours ago, a large covenant armada comprising of 250 vessels came into sensor range, they stationed themselves just outside the Sol System. Now Sisko had to depart for the Command Ship Victoria in orbit of Earth, before he departed, he had one last thing to do here on Earth. “Listen Suzy, if daddy does not come back…” with those remarks, Suzy broke out into tears. Understandable, she was so young. She was unable to understand the graveness of this situation. “Daddy, I don’t want you to go.” He wished he did not have to, but he knew he must. Not for the UNSC, not for Earth, but for her and Mary. “Suzy, I have to go, now I want you to listen to me very carefully, if I don’t come back, I want you to do everything your mother tells you. Be nice to her, I am sure the two of you will get by just fine. Always remember, that I love you.” Suzy hugged Sisko, with a strength he had not known her to have. He stood from his knee, now facing his wife. She spoke first, “Come back to me Sisko when this is over.” He smiled, “You know I will. If there is one thing that scares me more then the Covenant, it’s seeing you angry.” She smiled, and then cried. The two embraced each other. Not to let Suzy feel left out, he grabbed her to, in a small family huddle. After what seemed like an eternity. They all let go. There was nothing more to be said, Sisko looked at his family one last time, and departed for the Pelican, its engines humming. Just as he stepped onto the ship, his uniform was tugged on. He turned around to find his daughter presenting him a picture. It was a crayon colored drawing of a Greek soldier holding out a sword. “Its a Spartan…” said Suzy. “Keep it, its lucky.” Sisko let out a tear, and held his daughter’s hand once more. He let go regretfully, and stepped on to the pelican. He took his seat with two Marine escorts. The Pelican’s engines grew in intensity, pushing the craft off the ground and into the air. He observed his family for every minute, before they grew unidentifiable. Duty called, and he hated it for tearing him from his family.

“Admiral on deck!” stated one of the crewmen as Sisko entered the bridge of the Victoria, better known as the ‘Command Ship’. The Command Ship as it was commonly referred to by the UNSC was easily the largest, most powerful vessel the UNSC possessed. However, its main purpose was to command mass fleets, not to engage them. The Command Ship along with a dozen other UNSC cruisers remained in orbit of Earth incase the covenant tried to pull any breakthrough tactics. The two hundred strong UNSC taskforce was stationed in orbit of Jupiter, the chosen battlefield, far away from the populated worlds of Earth and Mars. The Command Ship’s deck was also different from a standard vessel. It featured an extremely large holographic platform, from which holographic representations of worlds and ship hovered over the platform’s surface. The holographic platform was currently zoomed out to view the entire solar system, giving a clear picture of Friendly and Enemy positions. Sisko stuck the picture against a near by wall before assuming command. “Communications, put me through to the fleet…” he ordered. “Eye sir” was the reply he received. A small beep echoed through the bridge confirming that a channel had been opened. “UNSC Personnel, today you have been tasked with saving Humanity. A daunting objective in which failure is not an option. We have fought the Covenant for thirty-four years, and I attend to fight them till they capitulate, not us. We are all defending loved ones back on Earth, let us not fail them. I suggest you use this time, to find comfort in any manner you see fit. I myself will be praying, praying for victory over the invaders. I will leave you to it. Good luck men and women of the UNSC, and may god be with us this day. Admiral Sisko out.” The Admiral redirected his attention to the holographic console. He could not but help stare at Earth. How could this one majestic little world be the focal point of all this madness?


“Sir, they’re moving…” stated one of the tactical officers that surrounded the holographic platform. Sisko looked toward the room. “Alright people, the show has begun, lets all remember our parts.” Several red blips representing Covenant Capital ships broke from their position outside the Sol system and were just passing Pluto. The UNSC forces remained at their positions in orbit of Jupiter, maintaining their defensive lines. Covenant forces processed energy streams as their primary weapon. These streams of homing pure purple energy generated heat so intense, it literally liquefied USNC capital ships that had the misfortune of being caught in their wake. The main weapon for the UNSC was the MAC (Magnetically Accelerated Charge) cannon. The MAC cannon fires a two thousand ton charge at one quarter the speed of light. Covenant force fields however, can with stand one of these impacts. With a second impact, the shields fail. The third impact will literally break the ships hall, many times the charge penetrating right through the hall of a Covenant ship. The rate of fire for both sides was just about the same. The dilemma had always been that a single energy stream fired by the Covenant could destroy a UNSC capital ship, while it took three MAC charges to destroy a Covenant ship. The UNSC had always won their battles with superior numbers. There had been a few battles won by the UNSC where the Covenant outnumbered the UNSC, but through clever tactics had the UNSC been able to achieve victory. Sisko was hoping for this to occur today. The Covenant possessed every advantage here, including numbers. The Covenant armada passed Neptune as the Holographic platform zoomed in to get a clear picture of the fast approaching enemy. The hologram now included the two opposing task forces and the planet of Jupiter. A tactical officer spoke up, “Sir, they are entering weapons range.” Sisko nodded, as he observed yellow triangles representing friendly projectiles fired from out of the UNSC forces. The UNSC Capital ships collaborated on targets, as to fire the correct amount of MAC charges against targeted vessels. The first salvo made contact with the Covenant Armada. The yellow triangles vanished from the holographic panel, taking with them sixty red blips. The Covenant responded, two hundred red triangles emerged from the Covenant fleet, and made their way to the UNSC task force. “Launch Decoys now!” Sisko screamed. The tactical officer nodded. “Code fifteen Charlie. Repeat Code fifteen Charlie.” More UNSC blips emerged from the atmosphere of Jupiter, these were ancient ships that were no longer in use by the UNSC. Officers in the UNSC taskforce were now piloting them via remote interface. The new blips placed themselves directly in the line of fire. The blips cancelled each other out, that was except for nine of the energy volleys whom found their targets. The UNSC task force fired another salvo hastily; removing an additional thirty-one Covenant capital ships from the battle. “Sir, UNSC forces are breaking off their lines, they are heading for the far side of Jupiter. They’re retreating sir.” Selective Covenant ships fired upon the retreating UNSC forces, catching nine of them before they could get out of harms way. The Covenant followed pursuit of the UNSC forces, they swung around the vast gas giant, directly into Sisko’s trap. Their, an additional eighty UNSC capital ships fired their MAC cannons at close ranging, only two charges for each Covenant ship. With forty enemy ships with out shields, mass waves of Long-Sword fighters pounced firing tactical nukes into the Covenant’s engines. On the holographic interface, those forty targeted ships without engines began to drift into Jupiter’s gravitational pull, their blips disappearing from the interface. Covenant had lost a hundred and thirty vessels at a cost of only thirty UNSC in numbers. Admiral Sisko nodded to the communications officer. “All UNSC forces, engage at will.” The UNSC and Covenant Blips broke off their fixed lines and mixed with one another in combat. The Covenant numbers continued to dwindle, their combined operations in complete disarray. The Covenant had lost an additional forty-two vessels, they were however able to inflict fifty-three kills of their own. The Covenant were outnumbered two point five to one. Their forces began falling back, the UNSC reforming a hasty line, firing one last salvo to boot. Taking with them another thirteen vessels. The remaining sixty hostile vessels made a jump, exiting the system. The command crew broke out into laughter and cheer.

Three hours had passed since the climatic battle had occurred. The United Nations Space Command back on Earth was already calling it ‘the turning point of the war’. Much had to be done before Earth could go on the offensive. New shipyards, better defenses and upgrade MAC cannons. But all that could wait, now, it was a time to celebrate. He was not sure who had brought the alcohol onto the bridge, but whom ever it was deserved a promotion. The two hundred strong task force was now in orbit of Earth. Two-dozen vessels were in dire need of repair, injured crew and officers were transported to Earth for proper medical treatment. But the battle had been won. The satisfaction knowing that his wife and daughter were safe was all the reward that he needed. He strolled over to the holographic console; just get a view of the third rock from the sun. Pretty little thing it was, floating there so majestically. He turned away from the console to converse with some of the crew when he heard a ‘beep’. He turned back to the console, and saw a single red blip on the console. The single blip was joined by another blip, then another. Then the blips came in by the dozens, double dozens. Before long, what almost looked like a rash illuminated the console. “Tactical officer, what’s the count on that task force.” The Tactical officer punched in a few keys on his console, and then swallowed. “Over three hundred sir.” Sisko almost wanted to cry, such cruel irony. His efforts till this point, futile. It was as if the faiths themselves were seeking humanities destruction. However, he did not plan to go down with out a fight. “Contact the fleet, bring them to battle ready status, form defensive lines. And my god have mercy on us all.”

An hour had passed when the battle had completely deteriorated. Several Covenant capital ships broke through the lines and were freely bombarding Earth. Long-Sword fighters were dispatched to challenge the assault-carriers, but proved to be futile. The Covenant Assault carriers launched hundreds of Banshee fighters to engage the Long-Swords. Sisko stood at the holographic platform, trying to keep in control of the situation. His ship vibrated once more as it released another MAC charge against a Covenant vessel. On Sisko’s console, a pilot’s face appeared. “Sir, they just folded in, inside our formation.” Screamed the Squadron leader. “Son I need you to calm down,” replied Sisko. The pilot continued “Additional contacts in pursuit of us.” Sisko observed the platform, and quickly returned his attention back to the pilot. “Bring them to rally point alpha.” There, a fresh squadron had been launched. Another face materialized on Sisko’s console. It was General McCarthy. “Admiral, you can’t let them maintain orbit.” Sisko’s expression began to falter. “I’m trying general, but we lost advantage in the middle of the perimeter. Archer missiles are combat ineffective and the fighters, they don’t have enough punch to take out a Covenant Assault Carrier.” McCarthy’s expression turned into one of anger. “Your pilots let up, but down here, it’s the goddamn apocalypse. I’m asking you to retarget the orbiters.” “And let more of them slip the kill zone, that’s insanity, there’s nothing more I can do.” The pilot face reappeared, “What difference does it make, our grid is smashed, I don’t think we can survive another run.” Just then, a new image pixilated itself on his console, one of an AI construct. The console identified it as ‘Cortana’. The picture contained a women’s face, with inscriptions running across her purple skin. She spoke “Admiral, tell your men to hold their positions. Reinforcements are on the spoke.” Sisko almost wanted to laugh. “The entire fleet is engaged Cortana, with respect, what the hell sort of reinforcements do you got?” He suddenly recalled that name, Cortana. He looked up from his console to the picture that his daughter had drawn earlier. “Spartan” he whispered to himself.

The End