Chapter 294 — The First Volley
The Covenant fleet continued its steady advance.
From the command deck of the flagship, Cascade appeared almost peaceful.
Too peaceful.
The orbital defense platforms had already been destroyed. No human fleet had emerged to contest the approach. No organized resistance had appeared anywhere in the system.
Everything followed a pattern the Covenant had repeated countless times before.
A human colony discovered.
A human colony isolated.
A human colony awaiting destruction.
Standing before the primary tactical hololith, the Sangheili Fleetmaster remained perfectly still as fresh reports continued arriving.
"Orbital defenses neutralized."
"No human naval activity detected."
"Scanning operations continuing."
He gave a slight nod.
Exactly as expected.
A nearby Sangheili officer lowered his head respectfully.
"Several evacuation vessels have escaped the system."
The Fleetmasters mandibles shifted slightly.
"Insignificant."
"Yes, Excellency."
The officer immediately returned to his station.
The Fleetmaster never looked away from Cascade.
A handful of civilian transports escaping changed nothing.
The colony still remained.
And more importantly, the Covenant fleet remained completely uncontested.
Additional reports continued flowing across the bridge.
"No Forerunner signatures detected."
"No hidden fleets located."
"No major military concentrations identified."
Nothing.
The Fleetmaster quietly observed the world below.
Perhaps the humans had finally accepted reality.
Perhaps they had decided that preserving what lives they could was preferable to dying in a hopeless battle.
If so, it was a wise decision.
It would not save them.
But it was wise nonetheless.
He finally spoke.
"Continue advancing."
"As commanded."
Across the fleet, warships adjusted formation.
Cruisers slowly moved farther ahead.
Carriers entered deployment positions.
Troop transports settled into formation behind the heavier warships.
The closer the fleet moved toward Cascade, the easier every operation would become.
None of them realized they were moving directly into a carefully prepared trap.
Inside Cascade's primary command center, silence dominated the room.
Every eye remained fixed on the massive tactical display.
Every Covenant vessel was visible.
Every movement tracked.
Every adjustment monitored.
No one wanted to interrupt the growing tension.
Marcus was the first to finally speak.
"Five ships have entered optimal engagement range."
Nobody reacted.
Not outwardly.
A moment later, Jarvis confirmed the report.
"Confirmed."
"Five targets currently within maximum projected effectiveness."
Tony folded his arms.
He looked toward Gaius.
Even standing still, Gaius occupied enough space that nearby officers unconsciously kept a respectful distance.
"Still waiting?"
"Yes."
Tony sighed quietly.
He already knew that would be the answer.
It still frustrated him.
The weapons were ready.
The enemy had entered range.
Every instinct he possessed told him to fire immediately.
Beside him, Gaius remained completely unmoved.
His eyes stayed fixed on the tactical display.
The Covenant continued advancing.
Exactly as planned.
Several moments passed.
Then Jarvis spoke again.
"Additional vessel entering engagement envelope."
The display updated.
A Covenant carrier crossed the highlighted boundary.
"Six targets."
Again, nobody spoke.
Gaius continued watching.
Still no order.
Commander Osman quietly studied him from across the room.
She had worked alongside military commanders for years.
She had seen officers panic.
She had seen officers fire too early.
She had seen officers make emotional decisions simply because the enemy was visible.
Gaius did none of those things.
He simply watched.
Patient.
Calculating.
Waiting for exactly the right moment.
Only then did she truly understand what kind of commander he was.
Across Cascade, systems buried beneath the planet quietly awakened.
Deep beneath mountains...
Inside heavily reinforced bunkers...
Hidden beneath entire sections of landscape...
The Planetary Defense Lasers silently prepared for battle.
Power flooded into enormous capacitor banks.
Cooling systems activated throughout the underground facilities.
Targeting arrays synchronized with Jarvis' fire-control network.
The weapons remained invisible.
But beneath the surface...
They were alive.
Waiting.
Far above the colony, the Covenant Fleetmaster continued observing the latest scans.
Still nothing.
No hidden defenses.
No unexpected surprises.
No indication the humans possessed anything capable of changing the battle.
His attention shifted toward one of the fleet's carriers.
Ground assault preparations were proceeding efficiently.
Thousands of Covenant warriors stood ready.
Elites.
Jackals.
Grunts.
Every assault force necessary to seize the colony.
If orbital bombardment became unnecessary, the ground invasion would complete the operation.
If ground resistance proved inconvenient, orbital bombardment remained available.
Either option would succeed.
As far as he was concerned...
The battle had already been won.
Back inside Cascade's command center, Jarvis interrupted the silence once more.
"Additional contacts entering engagement range."
The tactical display updated again.
Another Covenant cruiser crossed into the highlighted area.
Moments later, another followed.
"Seven vessels now inside optimal engagement envelope."
Several officers exchanged glances.
Seven ships.
Most of the fleet.
Tony looked back toward Gaius.
"So?"
Gaius remained silent.
His attention never left the display.
Seconds later, Jarvis spoke again.
"The Covenant flagship has entered engagement range."
The room froze.
Even Tony stopped moving.
Marcus slowly lifted his eyes toward the tactical projection.
There it was.
The largest contact.
The flagship.
The vessel coordinating the fleet.
The most valuable target anywhere in the system.
Now inside the kill zone.
Marcus couldn't help speaking aloud.
"These Covenant are all entering the trap so easily."
One of the senior officers nodded.
"Maybe they think Cascade doesn't intend to resist."
Another officer agreed.
"The orbital defense platforms barely fought back."
"We never deployed a fleet."
"From their perspective..."
He looked toward the tactical display.
"...it probably looks like we've already accepted defeat."
Several officers nodded.
If they had been commanding the Covenant fleet, they admitted they likely would have reached the same conclusion.
Everything humanity had shown so far suggested surrender.
Exactly as Gaius intended.
Finally, Gaius spoke.
"Status."
Jarvis answered immediately.
"All thirteen Planetary Defense Lasers are fully operational."
"Targeting synchronization complete."
"Power levels at one hundred percent."
"Firing solutions available."
Silence followed.
Gaius slowly looked around the room.
Marcus.
Tony.
Commander Osman.
Every senior officer gathered inside.
No one spoke.
Every one of them understood what would happen next.
Outside...
The Covenant fleet continued advancing.
Closer.
Closer.
Still confident.
Still believing Cascade had no means of stopping them.
Gaius calmly issued his next command.
"Prepare all thirteen Planetary Defense Lasers."
Immediately, hidden facilities throughout Cascade came alive.
Massive blast doors unlocked.
Entire mountains trembled.
Deep underground reactors surged to maximum output.
Cooling systems accelerated.
Massive targeting assemblies rotated into firing position.
Across the colony, thirteen hidden weapons prepared to reveal themselves for the first time.
Jarvis' voice echoed throughout the command center.
"Planetary Defense Lasers standing by."
The tactical display highlighted every Covenant ship inside engagement range.
The flagship.
Multiple cruisers.
A carrier.
Troop transports.
Perfectly positioned.
Tony slowly smiled.
"Now this is going to hurt."
Gaius never looked away from the display.
The Covenant commander still had no idea.
Not yet.
For only a few more seconds...
He remained completely confident.
Completely unaware.
Then Gaius spoke.
One word.
"Fire."
The Covenant Fleetmaster continued watching Cascade.
Victory remained inevitable.
The orbital defenses had already been destroyed.
No human fleet had appeared.
The colony lay exposed beneath the Covenant armada.
Then an alarm sounded.
Not an attack warning.
An energy warning.
One of the Kig-Yar technicians suddenly looked up.
"Unknown energy signatures detected."
The Fleetmaster's eyes narrowed.
"Source?"
The technician hesitated.
"The planetary surface."
Instantly, attention shifted throughout the bridge.
A Sangheili officer leaned closer to his console.
"Power levels increasing rapidly."
The Fleetmaster finally turned.
"How rapidly?"
The officer stared at the readings.
His eyes widened.
Then widened even further.
For the first time since entering the system...
Uncertainty entered his voice.
"Excellency..."
"The readings are still climbing."
Another alarm sounded.
Then another.
Across the bridge, every sensor station began reporting the same phenomenon.
Massive energy spikes.
Not from one location.
From many.
The Fleetmaster's mandibles tightened.
"Magnify."
The holographic image of Cascade expanded.
One marker appeared.
Then another.
Then another.
More.
More.
Until thirteen separate markers glowed across the planet.
The bridge became silent.
One Sangheili officer stared at the display.
"What are they?"
Nobody answered.
Because nobody knew.
The energy readings continued climbing.
The Fleetmaster reacted immediately.
"Fleet-wide alert."
"Raise shields to maximum."
The orders spread instantly across the fleet.
But the warning came too late.
The energy buildup had already reached critical levels.
Deep beneath Cascade...
Mountains split apart.
Massive armored blast doors opened.
Entire sections of terrain unfolded.
Thirteen hidden Planetary Defense Lasers emerged into the open.
And fired.
For the briefest fraction of a second, Covenant sensors detected the discharge.
Then thirteen beams of brilliant light crossed the void.
The flagship shook violently.
One Sangheili officer nearly lost his footing.
"Impact!"
Another voice shouted.
"Multiple impacts!"
The tactical display exploded with warning symbols.
One Covenant cruiser disappeared beneath an enormous sphere of energy.
Its shields flared brilliantly.
Then failed.
The laser punched through the hull.
Armor vaporized instantly.
Entire sections of the vessel simply ceased to exist.
Atmosphere erupted into space.
A second beam struck another ship.
Its shields barely survived.
Warning symbols spread across the tactical display as shield integrity plummeted.
Moments later, another laser struck.
The weakened shields collapsed.
The cruiser spun violently out of formation.
A nearby carrier absorbed simultaneous impacts from multiple beams.
Its shields held.
For a moment.
Then weakened.
Then weakened further.
Entire percentages of shield reserves vanished almost instantly.
The bridge filled with overlapping reports.
"Shield failure!"
"Hull breach!"
"Loss of propulsion!"
"Port weapon systems destroyed!"
"Catastrophic damage detected!"
The Fleetmaster's eyes widened.
Not from fear.
From disbelief.
The fleet had been ambushed.
Not by orbital guns.
Not by a hidden fleet.
By the planet itself.
The opening volley ended.
Silence briefly settled across the bridge.
Then casualty reports arrived.
One cruiser crippled.
Another heavily damaged.
Several ships reported severe shield losses.
One troop transport no longer responded.
The Fleetmaster stared at the tactical display.
The humans possessed hidden weapons.
Weapons capable of threatening Covenant warships.
One officer looked toward him, waiting.
The Fleetmaster recovered almost immediately.
Decades of warfare reasserted themselves.
"Identify every firing location."
The bridge burst back into motion.
"Scanning."
"Analyzing."
"Searching."
The Fleetmaster's eyes never left Cascade.
The humans had finally revealed their hand.
Now he understood.
Those weapons could not be allowed to fire again.
His voice turned cold.
"Prepare ground assault forces."
Nearby officers immediately looked toward him.
"Those installations are the priority."
"Destroy them."
Across the Covenant fleet, thousands of warriors prepared for deployment.
Elites.
Jackals.
Grunts.
Hunters.
Vehicles.
Dropships.
Everything necessary to eliminate the hidden weapons.
Inside the command office, the atmosphere became noticeably quieter.
Not because the battle had ended.
Because everyone was studying the results.
Jarvis reported calmly.
"First volley complete."
"Damage assessment in progress."
The tactical display updated continuously.
Destroyed.
Crippled.
Damaged.
Shield weakened.
More information arrived every few seconds.
Marcus pointed toward the display.
"One cruiser destroyed."
"Another heavily damaged."
"Carrier shield integrity significantly reduced."
"One troop transport lost."
Tony folded his arms.
"Not bad."
A grin slowly spread across his face.
"Actually..."
"...that's pretty good."
Nobody argued.
The opening strike had accomplished exactly what it needed to accomplish.
Jarvis interrupted again.
"Enemy fleet reorganizing."
Immediately, the tactical display shifted.
The Covenant commander had recovered.
Ships repositioned.
Escorts adjusted formation.
Damaged vessels withdrew.
The flagship issued new commands.
The surviving ships spread farther apart.
Tony noticed immediately.
"They're adapting."
"Of course they are," Gaius answered calmly.
"The commander is competent."
"He would not survive long otherwise."
Everyone watched the changing formation.
Then Jarvis highlighted several new contacts.
"New activity detected."
"Multiple dropships preparing for launch."
Marcus immediately understood.
"They're going after the lasers."
Gaius nodded once.
"As expected."
If the Covenant remained in orbit, the Planetary Defense Lasers would continue firing.
If they withdrew, they surrendered the initiative.
Destroying the weapons had become their only practical option.
Exactly as planned.
Jarvis continued.
"Estimated launch of ground assault forces in four minutes."
Tony smiled faintly.
"Looks like everyone is about to get busy."
Naruto.
Tanya.
Mindy.
Diana.
Saeko.
The UNSC forces.
Soon every one of them would be fighting.
The battle was shifting to the ground.
Exactly as Gaius intended.
Yet Gaius continued watching only one ship.
The Covenant flagship.
Tony noticed immediately.
"You've selected your target."
It wasn't a question.
Gaius nodded.
"Yes."
Tony followed his gaze.
When he realized which vessel Gaius meant, he sighed.
"The flagship."
"Of course it's the flagship."
Gaius offered no explanation.
To him, the choice required none.
Destroying a cruiser was useful.
Destroying the command ship could decide the entire battle.
Jarvis highlighted the flagship.
"Analysis complete."
New information appeared.
Shield condition.
Power output.
Structural integrity.
Combat effectiveness.
The flagship had survived the first volley relatively intact.
Its shields, however, had suffered measurable damage.
Not enough.
Yet.
But enough to matter.
Tony noticed the same thing.
"You want another volley first."
"Correct."
Gaius continued watching the display.
"The shields must weaken further."
"Otherwise, the launch pod could be destroyed on impact with the shield."
Tony nodded.
Even Gaius couldn't simply ignore physics.
The Covenant's shields had to be weakened first.
Only then would the launch pod have a realistic chance of penetrating them and reaching the ship.
Tony rubbed his forehead.
"I still can't believe this is an actual plan."
"It is a sound plan," Gaius replied.
Tony immediately pointed at him.
"No."
"It is a plan."
"There is a difference."
Gaius shifted his attention toward another display.
Several markers appeared.
The launch pods.
The Iron Legion had already delivered them.
They waited beside one of the Planetary Defense Laser installations.
Ready.
Tony followed his gaze.
"...You're already thinking about it."
"Yes."
There wasn't even a moment of hesitation.
"The ground assault will begin soon."
"The second volley will weaken the fleet further."
"If the flagship presents an opportunity..."
He looked once more toward the command ship.
"I will board it."
Silence settled across the room.
No one questioned him anymore.
The first volley had already proven his strategy worked.
The Covenant had reacted exactly as he predicted.
The ground assault was beginning.
The trap was closing.
Somewhere above Cascade, the Covenant Fleetmaster struggled to regain control of the battle.
Completely unaware that another threat was already preparing to come directly for him.
Jarvis broke the silence.
"Alert."
"Large-scale Covenant dropship deployment detected."
The tactical display immediately filled with hundreds of new contacts.
The invasion had begun.
Gaius finally looked away from the flagship.
"Inform all defensive sectors."
"Battle stations."
"And prepare the launch pod."
~~~
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