In Their Defence:Guardian Lance

Prologue: Operation Start
Lieutenant Joseph Chiu looked down at his implacable suit and tried to make it even more perfect. He was on edge, he always was when being debriefed by his superiors. Chiu always found it surprising that those that worked with ONI, even the longer serving ones, where never fully comfortable around ONI’s brass. Then again it was hard to be at ease when you were surrounded by people with enough power and influence that they could wipe you off the face of the galaxy, and do it without even a worry. It was why Chiu had been enjoying his post as the resident ONI officer aboard the UNSC Prowler Wayward Watch. Far enough from command to stay below their radar and close enough to the war to feel like he was making a difference. Not that it has an easy assignment, being aboard a prowler always treaded the line between mind numbing boredom and nail biting tension, but it kept the job interesting. On the other side of the waiting room the door opened and a marine MP looked at Chiu “They will see you know Lieutenant” Chiu took a deep breath and stood up, making sure that he didn’t crease his suit, and made his way through the door. The marine watched him go past before closing the door as he passed through. The closing of the door had an ominous finality to it, it always did. The room within was small and dark with the only object being a table, which sat two individuals. They were Rear Admiral Sarah Knights, fairly well known in the ONI world as being somewhat of a rising star having recently taken the vacated position that Admiral Paragoshky left, and Commander James Whenz, a subordinate of Captain Gibson. They didn’t say a word as the Lieutenant walked up to them and saluted. The Rear Admiral looked at him and said “Sit Lieutenant, we have much to discuss” Chiu sat, back still straight as a board and suit still as smooth as a pearl. He knew how to act in these situations. Didn’t help his nerves, nothing did. “Now, I am to assume that we all know why we are here. The situation of Jericho VII” Whenz, who up to that point had been looking at a data pad, looked at Chiu and said “I was under the impression that Jericho had been glassed, Captain De Blanc made that clear in his report. Perhaps you could shed some light on that mystery” Chiu knew that they had already read and understood everything he had read in the report, but ONI always like to hear things first hand. Trust but verify. He picked up the data pad before him and scrolled to the start of his report “As I said in my report, we had been receiving strange energy readings from Jericho VII. Captain Gibson had the Wayward Watch investigate. When we arrived in system we saw that only 30% of the planet had been glassed and that was mainly contained around the polar regions. The equatorial areas where left relatively untouched” “Your report also mentions covenant forces, what do you know about them?” said Knights impassively. Chiu had met her before in one of these meetings, she has more level headed than other ONI commanders but by no means less ruthless. “When we arrived we could see two corvettes and one cruiser. The cruiser was engaged in surface activity, though of what kind we couldn’t tell. It was possible that there were more on the other side of the planet but we didn’t stay to see a full planetary rotation” “Why didn’t you stay?” asked Whenz, raising an eyebrow “Prowlers can stay hidden much longer than you did in that system” “The Wayward Watch had recently had an overhaul of her camo systems. Captain Stark didn’t wish to risk the camo failing on us” Whenz nodded, though not fully satisfied with the answer. Admiral Knights meanwhile was looking at her data pad. Without looking up she asked “Tell me about the energy readings that you received” “At first it seemed like common background radiation but the Watch recalibrate the scanners and look at it again. Along with a higher level of radiation there were odd undefined energy patterns that we couldn’t identify on our database. Along with that we received weak covenant communications that we estimated to be about a week old” “Did they say anything useful?” “Not that our computers could decipher” Both of them were quiet for a while, Whenz looking at his data pad again and Knights studying Chiu. After a few seconds she asked “Was there anything else that you didn’t mention in the report that you know feel relevant?” Chiu mentally breathed a sigh of relief, it was almost over “No ma’am, other than that I agree with Captain Gibson’s request for a more thorough investigation” Admiral Knights nodded at him “Understood Lieutenant, you may leave. But please don’t wander too far. We many need you again.” Chiu stood up and saluted and then turned on his heels and walked out the door. As it closed behind him he breathed a sigh of relief. Good, he though, still in one piece.

Admiral Knights watched the Lieutenant go, noting his slight nervousness as he exited the room. Inside she smiled, it always amused her the way the lower ranks were scared of her. But it came with the job when you were this high up in ONI. She let her gaze shift from the door and over to the commander who had finished thumbing over another data pad section. “Well this is a bit of a piss up, intelligence wise” He said, putting the pad down and turning to her “How are we only just now aware of a covenant task force on Jericho” Sarah looked at him with calming eyes “It’s something that I will look into later, right now we need to decide what to do” Whenz nodded “Captain Gibson has made his position clear, we should go back in and clear the covenant off that world. Find out what they were up to when the bastards are all just dust in space” The admiral studied the data pad again, looking at the strength of the covenant forces on the world, two corvettes and one cruiser. “The navy has dealt with bigger forces before and came out on top. But the covenant have been there for, at the most, 5 years. That is enough time to put a good defence. If we send in a strike fleet we could be sending valuable resources into a meat grinder” “So what do you suggest?” asked the commander, raising an eye brow “Infiltration, we send in a team to scan the situation and prepare for a strike fleet a week later” “Sending a single team to deal with that? For what purpose?” “I’m willing to bet that those aliens have a solid defensive position, a single strike team could be in and out before they even realise” Whenz nodded slowly, though still unconvinced “What kind of team did you have in mind?” The admiral slid a second data pad across to Whenz. He picked it up, gave her a sideways look and being to read it. She watched as he read, his brow rising as he read it. He finished a few seconds later and put the pad down. He looked at her “Spartans?” “Yes” She stared at him with unblinking eyes Whenz eyed the data pad “Exercising your new powers?” “No, putting forward a team that I know can get the job done” “I can understand 103 and 142. They have been in ONI’s employ for a while now. But 041? He’s only be in a handful of missions for ONI” Sarah looked past the commander for a second and thought, not that she hadn’t put a lot of thought into this already “The skills he gained during the Harvest Campaign will serve him well here. And it isn’t like he’s being asked to do anything morally dubious.” Whenz still didn’t seem fully convinced. He put the data pad down laced his fingers together in thought. “Deployment of a spartan team is always such as big decision, but it would be the most efficient way to find out what the covenant are up too and neutralize them” Sarah smiled to herself “I’ll send the word out”

Chapter One: Battle of Jericho VII
Five years ago

Russell and the other four spartans of Red Team slowly crept through the undergrowth of Jericho VII, little more than the rustling of leaves or the momentary glint of moonlight on their armour gave any indication they were there. They had been moving like this for two hours, steadily making their way toward the covenant landing zone, dodging the odd covenant patrol along the way. Their objective was a covenant landing site, the aliens were using to ferry their soldiers down to the planet and giving them clear access to the UNSC bases in the area. If the UNSC were going to take this world back, they would need this area cleared. That’s what Red Team was here to do. Anton-044, their scout, suddenly blinked his beacon once. The team immediately stopped and moved apart, hiding. They all crouched there, listening and waiting. After five minutes of waiting Anton’s beacon flicked on and off again. They were clear. “Team, form up on me” ordered Joshua-029, Red Team’s currently leader. The team moved in, creating a circle and keeping watch for any movement. “Ok, clock says we have 5 minutes before Blue Team engages the covenant rear guard. The minute they start firing we move in. Grace, check the nuke” Russell kept his assault rifle up, aiming around at the dense undergrowth, all the while keeping one eye on his motion tracker. The little radar on his HUD showed no movement and no enemy contacts. But being this far into enemy territory you could never be too careful. Especially when camouflaged elites could be on the prowl. Behind him Grace finished checking the nuke, picking it up and reattaching it to the magnetic strips on the back of her armour. “It’s good to go, I set the timer to 10 minutes in case the remote doesn’t work” “Good, get ready. We’ll be moving soon” They all crouched there, weapons pointed out of the circle. No one moved or said a word, just watched the world around them with ultimate focus. The silence was almost palpable. Suddenly there was a great explosion and the horizon was briefly lit up by the detonations. Not seconds later Blue teams leader, John-117, flashed his beacon on, the signal to being the next stage of the plan. Red Team quickly reformed again and moved forward, fast this time, heading for the landing zone. As they moved ahead the sounds of gunfire and plasma impacts rolled over the hills in waves as Blue Team drew the alien forces collective attention toward themselves. And giving Red the chance to slip in unnoticed. Near the edge of the covenant camp the trees ended and there was slight ridge. There was also very little else that would keep the team covered in their run over to the bomb site. It would be risky but hopefully the covenant troops would be too busy to notice. “Looks to exposed for use all to go sir” whispered Isaac-039, looking out on the now empty covenant encampment. “Agreed. Anton, Russell. Go with Grace and keep her covered, we’ll provide overwatch from here” All three spartans winked their beacons on and moved forward. Anton in front with Grace in the middle and Russell on rear guard. Abandoning their initial stealthy movement the trio sprinted across the open ground, eating up the distance between them and the site. Russell risked a glance to his left as they ran, seeing the last of the covenant troops run down the slope toward the sound of the commotion. Off in the distance he could make out the bursts of assault rifle fire coming from three figures at the top of the opposite side, falling back even as they emptied their clips into the oncoming horde. “We should move fast, I’m not sure how long Blue can hold off that many grunts” said Russell “Agreed” replied Anton “The sooner we get that bomb armed the better” The three of them slid to a stop in front of the bomb site, around them were a couple of recently unloaded covenant crates. Better cover than they had asked for. Anton and Russell took up defensive positions around Grace. “Go, we’ve got you covered Grace, do your thing” Grace nodded and unslung the tac-nuke from her back and placed it on the ground. She opened up the bombs control panel and begun to arm the warhead inside. Behind her Anton and Russell kept watch. “Christ look at ‘em all” whispered Anton “I’ve not seen Grunts like that before” “Could be something the Elites put in their tanks” replied Russell, scanning left. It was clear. “Like combat drugs?” “Wouldn’t put it past the split-heads to try” If Anton had anything to say on the matter it was cut off as Isaac called over the comm link “Anton left!” Anton looked left and then jumped back as an elite materialized next to him. It growled something in its odd language and aimed its plasma rifle at Anton. Before it could fire both spartan’s raised their rifles and fired. Two bursts of combined fire slammed through the alien shields that surrounded its body and then scythed into its armour. The creature gurgled and slumped to the floor. Russell and Anton both reloaded and looked around, guns up and ready. “There could be more, stay sharp” said Russell, voice laced with focus as he tried to pick out any kind of movement that would suggest a cloaked elite. “Agreed” said Joshua over the comm “Grace how much longer” “Not long now sir, just a few more seconds now” Suddenly the night air before the two spartan’s shimmered and then peeled back, revealing two more elites. The aliens raised their weapons and fired. Russell and Anton both rolled away and ducked behind cover. Anton going left behind a pair of alien crates and Russell going right, pulling Grace away from the bomb and into cover with him. The aliens kept their fire up and advanced on them. Russell poked out and fired a quick burst at the one next to him, bullets clattering off its shields. Not enough to take it down. From over in the tree line three assault rifles discharged into the advancing elites. Their shields failing under the lead based onslaught and cutting into their armour. They too fell to the floor. Russell peeked around the corner, seeing the two bleeding bodies on the ground. “Thanks guys, both hostiles neutralized” “What is the status of the bomb?” Grace moved to look the weapon over “Zero damage, she’s good to go” “Understood, everyone get ready to move out. I’ll let Blue know that the bombs set” The three spartans quickly swept the area and then ran back to the ridgeline. As they ran Isaac suddenly shouted over the comm link. “Banshee’s everyone down!” Russell, Anton and Grace immediately dove to the floor as the alien flier’s appeared over the tree line, making a bee line straight for Blue teams location. They didn’t noticed the three spartans out in the open. The trio got up and made it to the rest of Red team on the ridge. “Good work guy’s, let’s move Red team” The five spartans scanned the area and then fell back in good order, sliding silently into the undergrowth once more.

The spartan’s jogged back to their fall back point where they had left their pelican transport. It was scuffed and dented from the fighting it had seen over the past week but it was still in good shape. For a Spartan craft at least. They stopped outside the craft and turned to Joshua. “Good work Red, that’s one covenant landing zone they won’t be heading back to again” Isaac nodded and slung his assault rifle over his shoulder “So, what’s the next to target sir?” “I don’t know, I’m waiting for word from Chief” Joshua suddenly put his finger to his helmets comm uplink. He nodded and then said “Yes sir”. “We’re pulling out” he said, looking at each of them “What?” replied Russell “We’re not just gonna leave” “Ye, were just getting warmed up” said Grace next to him “The fights going poorly upstairs, if we don’t leave now then chances are what remains of the fleet will get decimated” Russell let out a long sigh, this is what he hated about this war. For every battle they won they lost a world. And with the Outer Colonies emptying every day the UNSC was running out of worlds to loss. “We could stay” Russell ventured “Have the fleet come and exfil us in a week or so. At least give us time to do some damage” Joshua shook his head “Captain De Blanc made it clear, he wants us out ASAP. It’s been a while since we’ve stuck it out on a world before but things are different. This isn’t Harvest” Russell opened his mouth to retort but his voice died in his throat, what could he say. They knew, no matter how much they wanted to stay, that it was already over. Instead he just let his shoulders slump and followed the rest of his team into the Pelican. As they all boarded the pelican Russell turned back to look out of the view port as the ground began to retreat from him. Under his helmet he mouthed the word ‘Sorry’ and then moved to take his place, leaving yet another world to its fate.