Halo_ The Fall of Reach - Eric Nylund [78]
But it could only work once. After that, the UNSC fleet would be destroyed when the remaining Covenant ships returned fire. TheIroquois and the other ships were stationary targets. He appreciated that the Admiral couldn’t get too far from Sigma Octanus IV, but with zero momentum—and no room to maneuver—there’d be no way to avoid those plasma bolts.
“Sound decompression alarms in all nonessential sections, Lieutenant Hall, and then empty them.” “Aye, sir,” she said, and bit her lower lip. “Guns: status on the MACs?” Keyes’ eyes were glued to the firing countdown. Twenty seconds . . .
fifteen . . . ten . . . “Sir, MAC weapon systems are hot!” Hikowa announced. “Removing safeties now.” The Covenant ships started to rotate slowly in space—although their momentum continued to carry them
on their inbound trajectory toward the UNSC phalanx. Motes of red light collected along the alien ships’ lateral lines.
Five seconds. “Transferring firing control to the computer,” Lieutenant Hikowa said. She punched a series of firing codes into the computer, then locked down the controls. TheIroquois recoiled and spat twin bolts of thunder toward the enemy.
The starboard view screen showed UNSC destroyers and frigates launching their opening salvo. The Covenant fleet fired as well; angry red lances of energy raced though space towards them. “Time until that plasma impacts?” Captain Keyes asked Ensign Lovell. “Twenty-two seconds, sir.” The vacuum between the two opposing forces filled with a hundred lines of fire and smoldering metal
that seemed to tear through the fabric of space. Their trajectories closed on one another, then crossed, and the bolts of fire grew larger on the main screen.
Lieutenant Dominique said, “Receiving a second set of firing solutions and times. Admiral Stanforth on the priority channel, sir.”
“Put him on, holotank two,” Keyes ordered.
Near the main view screen, a small holographic tank—normally reserved for the ship’s AI—winked into operation. Admiral Stanforth’s ghostly image appeared. “All ships: hold your positions. Divert all engine power to recharge your guns. We’ve got something special cooked up.” His eyes narrowed. “Do not—I repeat, do not—underany circumstance break position or fire before you are ordered to do so. Stanforth out.”
The holographic projection of the Admiral snapped out of existence.
“Orders, sir?” Ensign Lovell turned in his seat.
“You heard the Admiral, Ensign. Thrusters to station keeping. Lieutenant Hikowa: get those guns recharged on the double.”
“Aye, sir.”
Keyes nodded as Hikowa turned back to her task. “Three seconds until first salvo impact,” she announced.
Keyes turned back to the tac display, concentrating on the MAC rounds that crawled across the screen. The fleet’s MAC rounds hammered into the Covenant lines. Shields flickered silver-blue and overloaded as the super-dense projectiles rammed into the formation; several ships were spun out of position by the impact.
“Guns?” he called out. “Enemy status?”
“Multiple hits on Covenant fleet, sir,” Hikowa replied. “Salvo two impact . . . now.”
A handful of the shots were clean misses. Keyes winced; each one of the off-trajectory MAC rounds meant one more enemy ship would survive to return fire.
The vast majority, however, slammed into the unshielded alien vessels. The lead Covenant destroyer took a direct hit from a heavy round, which sent the alien ship into a lurching port spin.
Keyes saw the destroyer’s engines flare as her pilot struggled to regain control—just as a second MAC round struck on the ship’s opposite side. For an instant, the Covenant vessel shuddered, held position, then flexed as the hull stresses became too great. The destroyer disintegrated and scattered debris in a wide arc.
A second Covenant ship—a frigate—shuddered under the impact of multiple MAC rounds. It listed to starboard and rammed the next frigate in the enemy formation. Sparks and small explosions flared from the ships as a gray-white plume of vented atmosphere