User:Norman-123/Halo: The Battle of Devout Wrath

Chapter One:
In the darkness of interplanetary space, hovering by Alpha Cancri, the sun of the Covenant world Devout Wrath, the prowler UNSC Ninja lay. It had “gone dark” powering down almost all systems save for essential life support. The sun itself masked its heat signature. Two other similar prowlers, the UNSC Phantom of the Opera and Eternal Midnight had more dangerous position-they were right under the noses of the Covenant fleet that lay around Devout Wrath, using the heat radiated from the plasma of the orbital shipbuilding yards to cover their heat signature. Each one of them was recording strategic information-enemy numbers, location of plasma batteries, locations of shipyards, location and mapping of ground facilities…the list was massive. They had remained like this for several days now, watching silently. But soon, it would be over. In two days and a few hours, the Fourth Fleet would arrive at Devout Wrath. It was the largest UNSC offensive operation against the Covenant ever. Devout Wrath was one of the Covenant’s fortress worlds, similar to Reach and Paris IV for the UNSC. Now, just like what the Covenant had done to Reach and Paris IV, the fleet would arrive and if all went well, wipe the Covenant of the face off the planet. Unlike the Covenant however, the UNSC would not destroy the planet-that would be a massive waste. Instead, they would use it as a base to launch further attacks against the Covenant.

Commander Riley Clark rubbed the sleep from his eyes on the bridge of the UNSC Ninja. He watched as the multiple video cameras kept recording the actions of the Covenant fleet. A corvette or frigate would occasionally make patrols, but the bigger ships would stay by the planet. There was at least one of the gargantuan Supercarriers in the Fleet of Fiery Ruination, the name of the Covenant fleet. Numerous battlecruisers, cruisers, carriers, destroyers, frigates and corvettes were also in the fleet. All in all, the prowlers estimated the size of the fleet to be at a hundred and forty ships. The fourth fleet had the advantage of twenty more ships, and several prowlers loaned from the prowler corps to stealthily deploy commandos to the surface. A few decades ago, such odds would be suicide for the UNSC. But now, with the development of energy shields on UNSC warships, they stood a chance. Of course, there was the fact that the Covenant had the home field advantage, but there would be fifty Spartans assaulting the world. Hopefully, that would be enough. If they won, ONI Section Two would have a field day. While the UNSC had their share of victories over the Covenant since they had developed energy shields, most were when the UNSC were defending. They had managed to re-capture a fair number of worlds that the Covenant had not glassed, captured some unimportant Covenant worlds, but never a target like Devout Wrath. Of course, if the UNSC lost, they would have lost nearly two percent of their entire fleet. A devastating consequence. Hopefully, it would not come to that. Riley watched as a frigate-through intercepted signals they had translated to find that the frigate was known as the Everlasting Devotion made it’s daily patrol a few hundred thousand kilometers away from the planet. A squadron of Type-26 Banshee-class interceptors trailed the frigate. The computer made note of the frigate’s route, and the banshee’s formation. It also made note of the frigate’s armament, despite the dozens of times it had been checked already. Three plasma torpedo tubes. Pulse Lasers. It could tear his ship apart.

He sometimes wished he wasn’t on a prowler. The prowler was basically a corvette with stealth capabilities, and nearly useless in ship-to-ship combat. Having to sit there and wait for days while ships that could blow you out of space if they even thought you could be there was something that made one feel unsafe. He envied his elder brother, who instead of becoming a spook like he had the bright idea of doing; he had joined the navy and was the XO of a destroyer in the home fleet. Being behind two meters of titanium-A, a powerful energy shield, a nuclear minefield along with 300 Super-MAC platforms and a two hundred other ships watching your back was something that made you feel safe. Being in a small squadron of three corvettes with stealth capabilities and little weapons and being behind half a meter of titanium-A did not make one feel safe. Riley really wished he wasn’t in the ONI prowler corps at times like this. Perhaps he would seek a transfer after this mission.