Halo: Heart of Darkness/Chapter 4

March 23rd, 2553, 23 days after the official end of the human/covenant war '''Solar System, Orbit of Earth, onboard UNSC Mivon

"Dropping out of slipspace in five admiral"

“Thank you, lieutenant"

Admiral Exeter Mivon rose out of his chair and took a long sip of his tea. As alcohol wasn’t allowed on deck, the crew had to have tea. He looked out the bridge viewport as it flashed bright blue then turned black.

“We have arrived sir”

“Good job, scan the area for any nearby ships” The admiral said, still looking out the viewport.

He looked towards Earth as it lay in the middle of the viewport. It was a miracle it still existed, that miracle was dead now, but all of humanity owes their lives to him.

“Sir, I have Lord Hood on the A-band comm channel, patching it through to you now.” Said the Lieutenant as he hit a button on the command console.

“Thank you Lieutenant.” He replied as he decided what to tell the admiral.

“This is Lord Hood, nice to speak to you again Admiral Mivon” Said lord hood, his deep voice penetrating the bridge crew’s ears.

“The same to you, Admiral. We...err...have a situation at Vladmire IV” said Admiral Exeter Mivon, who had decidedly made up his speech as he went along.

“Go ahead admiral, what is it?” Asked Lord Hood.

“We lost contact with all our ground forces, but we received a transmission from a police officer shortly after, who was cut off during what appeared to be an explosion. He said that some apparently native creatures had come from the swamps and were running wild. He also mentioned there were aliens, but not native, more advanced, but not the covenant” Answered Lord Mivon, who felt that although he was the same rank as Lord Hood, he had to speak respectively to him.

“So I guess you have come here for reinforcements?” Asked Hood.

“Well, yes. We sent all our forces from all the colony and transport ships planetside, but we would like some extra reinforcements” He replied again.

“Okay, just a minute” Said Admiral Hood, who moved over towards the Comm’s officer in the bridge of the newest, unfinished Orbital MAC gun station, Voi station.

Admiral Exeter Mivon grinned and looked towards the other bridge crew, who knew that they had just been given reinforcements. He sent out a message to the other nineteen UNSC ships who had come from the 97th fleet.

“Okay, we got the reinforcements. Stock up if necessary and then group at these co-ordinates. Oh, and don’t forget to make the new ship crews welcome, be friendly.” He told them, and they all laughed back.

Lord Hood pressed a button on the comm console and it lit up. He debated in his mind about who to send with the 97th fleet. He then remembered who saved him, who had given him a chance to get off Cairo Station before its destruction. Battlegroup Apache. He opened the comm channel to UNSC Powerblade, the flagship.

“UNSC Powerblade, this is Lord Hood, do you hear me?” said the admiral. “This is Admiral Jack Stephenson, what may we do for you on this fine day?” Replied Admiral Stephenson, commander of the Powerblade.

“There is an admiral, Lord Exeter Mivon, who requires Battlegroup apache’s assistance at Vladmire IV, as two new species have overrun the UNSC forces planetside” Replied Hood.

“Okay, so when do you want us to be there?”

“Well, now would be a good time, but ...” answered Hood, who was interrupted abruptly.

“Only joking sir, we’ll be there ASAP. Where’s UNSC Mivon then?” He asked.

“From your location, they’re not far from the moon.” Lord Hood answered, who was beginning to become irritated with the constant questioning.

“They’re? You mean to say he brought his whole fleet? Very well, we’ll be seeing you later sir” Replied Stephenson, who hurried over to the command console and rounded up his ‘flock’.

“Good luck Stephenson”

As the rest of the Battlegroup formed up behind UNSC Powerblade, Admiral Stephenson activated his fleet wide comm channel.

“Guys, we have a new mission. The 97th fleet needs a little assistance at Vladmire IV, and they’ve asked us to be it. Head to theses co-ordinates and wait there.” He told the captains and commanders.

He felt the Powerblade’s Engines kick in, and within a few minutes, they were all at the jump position.

“Hello Admiral Mivon, we heard you needed a little assistance. Well, it’s here”

“Okay, form up behind us”

As the ships all began moving, Admiral Mivon’s ship began counting down to jump.

“3, 2, 1, Jump!” Shouted the navigations officer, and one by one, the ships disappeared into blue flashes, until they were all gone.

Lord Hood looked out the viewport and took a long, hard stare towards where the flashes had come from. He whispered something.

“Good luck boys, you’ll need it”