Chapter Ten

Virgo, Meridian

Moon of Hestia V, Hestia V System

April 2nd, 2548

0036 hours

Ethan sat beside his parents on their couch in the living room while they spoke with Toland and several ONI/UNSC high-ranking officers about everything that had happened in the last 10 hours. His parents were furious.

“He’s a child for hell’s sake.” Emily Foster’s voice raised above everyone. There was a moment pause.

“I understand that Mrs. Foster” Colonel Gear kept calm and spoke sincerely. “But your child had very important knowledge regarding the artifact— “

“Right, because he dreamed of the place.” Allen Foster mocked. Colonel Gear looked at the Fosters and realized he was getting nowhere being nice.

“The Covenant wage war above our skies as we speak.” His voice raised, Toland wanted to say something but chose not to.

“Your son is the sole reason they still are up there on not on this planet.” He looked between the Fosters. “Because of him we now have an understanding why the Covenant is here.”

“They’re here because of ONI.” Allen said confidently.

“Seeing as you two are UEG Counsel members, I understand that we don’t see eye to eye” Colonel Gear was becoming angry. “But you know damn well we’re not the enemy. With what we have done protecting our race and providing economical support on this planet, you should be thanking us.” The room was quiet with his eyes wide. Ethan looked at his parents seeing the look of guilt on their faces, mainly his mothers.

“With all do respect Allen and Emily” Toland broke the silence, his voice opposite of the Colonels. “We have arranged your family to be one the first off this planet. Other Counsel member families are being transported as well.”

Colonel Gear watched Allen curiously as if he had an epiphany. “You served for the UNSC, correct? The both of you?” He asked. Allen bit his lip and looked at Ethan. He was completely in the dark about that. He knew they worked for the government and they apparently were Counsel members but they never said anything about serving in the UNSC. What a hypocrite, Ethan thought, his eyes like razor blades. Allen could see that anger and looked at Emily who, surprisingly, answered in defense.

“He was going to find out eventually.” She barked. The Colonel nodded and Toland looked around feeling like he was missing something.

“It was a long time ago.” Emily said. “We got out once Al became an Officer.”

An Officer? Toland thought. When he began investigating Ethan’s case roughly 6 months ago there was nothing about his parents serving in the military let alone becoming an Officer of all things.

“I assume you kept it from Ethan” The Colonel added noticing Ethan’s disapproved expression. Emily looked back, just a glance, and Allen faced forward fully understanding how upset he was.

“I regret what I did.” Allen began. “The UNSC turned their backs on those kids.” He yelled pointing. “I tried my hardest to cancel that Operation and the Admiral had me dismissed from the committee. That’s when I chose to leave. We came here, to Meridian, and decided to start fresh.” He waved at Ethan. This was the first time he had ever heard the story. For as long as Ethan was alive he was under the impression his parents were born and raised on Meridian…Though he never questioned where his grandparents lived. Were they even alive?

“Poseidon was a very tragic loss…” the Colonel waited for Allen to tell him his rank.

“Lieutenant Commander.” He said with an odd look on his face. It had been a long time since he acknowledged his rank. Ethan looked at his father not knowing who he was anymore. Everything he knew about his family was a cover up, a lie…and he was caught in the middle of all of it.

“Well” Colonel Gear began as he stood gesturing to Toland as he did so. “Lieutenant Commander— “

“I don’t go by that anymore.”

“Unless you were demoted, you are the rank you achieve regardless of the circumstances…sir.” The Colonel smirked, Allen straightened his posture.

“You have options; stay here and fight the Covenant the only way you know how or take your family somewhere safe, away from Meridian.”

“Nowhere is safe as long as they hunt us, Colonel.” Said Emily. “But yes, I suppose it is time that we leave.” She stared at Allen then grabbed his hand. Allen smiled at her and then looked back at Ethan seeing the despair flowing through him.

“I need a minute with my Son.” He said looking back at everyone in the room. Emily nodded and the rest of ONI and UNSC personal left the house.

Ethan looked away from his father not wanting to listen to what he had to say. Nothing could amount to the disrespect he felt. After all, his whole life seemed to be a lie, one that his parents were planning to keep if the Covenant haven’t had shown up.

“I’m sorry, Ethan.” Allen said with his head down. “We were trying to do right by giving you the life—“

“That you wanted...” Ethan butt in. “Do I even have grandparents?”

“What? Yes, of course. You spoke with them before they just don’t live on Earth…” Allen cocked his head. “They live on Reach, right now. Both of our parents are still serving in the UNSC.”

Ethan looked up at his dad with disgust. “You told me stories of how bad the UNSC was and how they kill people every day, I thought that was why you and mom were a part of our government; pushing out the UNSC?”

“In truth, the UNSC is our military. The UEG was established to keep things in order throughout all the colonies, including Earth. The UNSC are just the enforcers—but your right, we didn’t need them here which is why your mother and I have been working so much. And for telling you all those things, we felt it would encourage you to stay away from them”

“Why lie, dad?” Ethan asked. “Why force me to hate them and then tell me that it’s our family legacy?” He held back tears and was unsuccessful. Allen noticed and looked away trying to find a way to explain it to him.

“Look, when I joined the UNSC, I saw the war with the Covenant, fought in it, even. For years I watched as people I grew up with died. Some coming back in body bags and some never came back at all. But understanding how vicious the Covenant was, you wouldn’t be surprised to find out sometimes there wasn’t anything left.” The was moments pause as Allen quietened. “Your mother was my only escape, she could see what the war was doing to me and pushed me to leave, begged me to, but I didn’t…”

Ethan tried hard to shut his dad out but was undoubtedly interested in his story.

“When I was promoted to Lieutenant Commander, they had placed me within a division of Alpha Team, Spartan-III’s. I oversaw most of their operations acting like the back-up guy. I advised the Spartans, trained them, and they reported to me. But they took orders from the Admiral. Where ever the UNSC happened to need them, they went. It was then I realized how expendable they were…”

“You oversaw Spartans?” Ethan looked up at him, shocked. Allen smiled in return.

“Spartan-III’s, Yes, I was…but then I wasn’t. Because they all died.”

“All of them?”

“All of them…”

Ethan sat up straight and wiped away his tears. “The Colonel mention “Prometheus” was that the operation?” He asked.

“You are too smart for your own good.” Allen nudged him. “Yes, it was Operation: PROMETHEUS when I had last seen my Spartan team. ONI had located a Covenant shipyard on abandoned outpost where they built reactors for their starships. Several Officers, including myself were notified that Alpha Team was to be deployed immediately, all 300 of them…I fought against it, I told my ranking Officers that it was a suicide mission and that no one would come back. Of course, I was pushed to the side, even was threatened to be demoted. I looked the Admiral in the eye and I could swear that I had seen the insanity in his eyes. He was so ruthless and careless. The UNSC thought the Spartans expendable when they were considered heroes among our civilization. There are battles that can be won and some that cannot…”

Ethan was staring off, picturing what it must have been like working with Spartans. “So, what happened?”

“They died, ever last one of them…The mission was supposed to be aborted but their team leader decided to continue even though the Covenant were pouring down on them. The charges for the reactor were primed and activated destroying the base and every being within several kilometers from the site. Soon after that I put through my resignation and left with your mother to Meridian where we have been since.”

Spartan lived and Spartans died. That was the way of it. They were bred for war, nothing else, Allen understood that but underneath all the armor and augmentation, they were still human and yet they were treated like animals. He fought the urge to rant.

Ethan nodded slightly and noticed his father was still troubled. It made sense to him though; if they never went on the mission maybe the war would be going differently for better or worse. It certainly wasn’t handled the best way, Ethan thought. His father stood from the couch realizing how much time had passed.

“We should leave now.” He said. Ethan stood and gabbed his only bag of luggage which consisted of clothes and a few personal belongings like his diaries and stuffed animals. He didn’t want to leave, this was home but the Covenant were here taking that away from him. He shrugged to himself and followed his dad to the front door where Zena’s hologram stood.

“Hey, Z” Ethan’s voice was sad and low. Her head tilted to the side and gave him a odd expression.

“Why so sad?”

“I don’t want to leave”

Zena chuckled. “Really? You’ve been ready for a long time, you never truly fit here.”

Ethan looked up at here seeing the resonating happiness in her holographic eyes. This was the first time he had ever seen such emotion from her. It wasn’t that it was impossible but extremely rare for an A.I. like Zena to express human characteristics to this extent. He smiled.

“I will miss you, Zena.”

“I’ll miss you too, Ethan.” She replied and looked up at Allen. “Take care of him for me.” And then she winked.

“I will” Allen said as he opened the panel keyboard and typed in her decommission code. Ethan couldn’t help but notice the lack of sympathy his father displayed. He could see the behaviors left behind since his resignation, something he felt he should have been able to catch sooner. Then, he just thought his father was stern.

“Where will she go?” He asked.

“Earth” He said. The panel shutdown, Zena’s chip slide out from the port and he grabbed it. “She will be debriefed at UEG headquarters and possibly assigned to another job if she passes.”

Ethan understood that A.I.’s had limited lifespans but wasn’t entirely sure how long that really was. “Well I hope she passes and changes another child’s life.” He said as he walked out the door.

Ethan stepped away from the house and walked toward the Pelican him and Toland had arrived there on. The air was chilly with a slight breeze. The suburbs were quiet, no cars or people anywhere. To his left, Virgo was still bright as ever. Raves, bars, parties, and other major events within the film and music industry kept the city alive at night. He missed sitting next his window on restless nights looking out at the city and listening to the occasional loud music. He never thought the moment when he would leave this planet would feel so rushed but it certainly was. He looked at the sky above Virgo toward the stars and could faintly see bright flashes of light.

“Let’s go, buddy.” Allen placed his hand on Ethan’s shoulder. Toland came into view walking off the Pelican and approached Ethan as his father passed him and walked on the craft.

“Ready to go?”

“As ready as I’ll ever be.” Ethan smiled unenthusiastically.

“You’re the reason all of this is achievable” Toland said clearly. “Remember that”

“I don’t think it’s something I’ll ever forget.”

Ethan walked passed Toland and onto the Pelican. Toland scoped out the area, looking around at the faces that stared down at him. He felt guilty for not being able to save these people. He hated walking away from battle such as these but knew it was the right thing to do. Realistically, people were going to die, that was the cold hard truth. No matter how many safety measures ONI or the UNSC could provide while sending carriers of fleets off the planet, it would only be a matter of time until the Covenant would blow them right out of the sky. People depended on their safety being provided even at the expense of others, it was contradicting but a basic human instinct. Trying to evacuate the planet while several Carriers and Cruisers were above it, was suicide. Toland chose the most efficient path and that depended on how the initial skirmish above Meridian played out. If the UNSC could manage to force the Covenant to retreat, the window would be provided to save as many people until another fleet arrived. This reasoning had convinced Toland he was doing the right thing as he walked back on the Pelican. The thrusters lifted the craft off the ground, rattling windows and bending trees. People looked out their windows not knowing what was really going on. As the Pelican ascended into the night sky toward Virgo the suburb streets were quiet again and Ethan’s home was dark and vacant.

***

Captain Persie and his crew were thrown from their positions as plasma rounds from Carrier 3 drilled into the front sections of Sevenfold Gates close to the bridge. Debris and fires were scattered throughout the deck as Persie pushed himself to his feet.

“Is anyone hurt?” He asked. Several personal stood grabbing their heads and neck saying they were fine.

“Lieutenant, report.”

Adams was already running diagnostics throughout the Sevenfold Gates. Several sections were highlighted and while two remained red indicating there was a breach in the hull.

“Decks E through K have been hit, Decks J and K are offline, no communications going in or out.”

“They got our Barracks.” Captain Persie said. “Send medical team to secure the damaged Decks and lockdown all decks that are compromised.”

“Yes, sir.” Adams replied.

They were expecting to be hit, Persie made sure he turned the ship soon enough to avoid any damage unless another ship was involved.

“We were expecting the attack, were our maneuvers not enough?”

“They were, sir, but we were shot at by both Solemn Penance and the Cruiser.”

Persie rubbed his chin for a moment not understanding why there wasn’t a full-blown assault. Surely the other UNSC warships would engage and the Carriers would be badly damaged but the Gates wouldn’t survive so why not continue to attack. Overhead, just outside the observation window was a Cruiser heading straight toward Anchor’s 5 and 6. Persie stepped closer to the window.

“Charge MAC rounds through both cannons and get EMP missiles online.”

“Yes, Sir” His crew said simultaneously. He waited patiently to see if the Cruiser would make it passed the Anchors but he couldn’t help but ask why it would attempt such a thing. After seeing firsthand what they could do to Cruisers, that should have been enough to back off unless…And then it hit him.

“Lieutenant, bring all main weapons to the stern and fire at will. Adams didn’t hesitate. He typed as fast as he could, moving all the turrets and EMP missiles one hundred and eighty degrees then fired.

“Bring up our surroundings” Persie said marching toward the table. Adams joined him and moved the image. The turrets were hitting the Solemn Penance but its shields were up now. The EMP missiles had struck another Cruiser that was protecting the Carrier. Solemn Penance was belly up charging its plasma beam. Persie’s heart sank.

“Evasive maneuvers, now!” Persie shouted. “Bring us back toward Anchor 7”

He marched back toward his command post and watched as the plasma beam had barely missed Sevenfold Gates and directly hit Anchor 5, completely obliterating the station. The windows had been blown out destroying the main coms center along with other Frigates that had chosen to dock it. Lastly the stations MAC gun was severed and the Covenant Cruiser pressed on.

Persie watched, helplessly. He was convinced they had enough fire power to prevent the Covenant from landing on Meridian. But in a way, he felt that it was inevitable. He knew deep down they would land but they certainly had the upper hand; the Covenant were unprepared, he was sure they didn’t even know humanity was here which gave him the impression Agent Toland and Dr. Hoss were right all along.

“Pursue” Captain Persie began.

“Sir?” Adams asked, his eyebrow raised. It wasn’t that he was objecting to the Captains order, he was confused why he was pursuing when the battle was elsewhere.

Persie faced Lieutenant Adams. “That Cruiser is going to land, that’s a certainty. I’m going to make sure it can’t leave.” He walked to the holographic table. “MAC rounds ready?”

“They have been, sir.” The weapons operator said.

“Good. Fire at the Cruisers engines. We’ll let the ground troop deal with them.”

“Sir, the Cruiser is directly above a city.” Another operator said. Persie brought his attention toward her.

“Show me.”

The operator brought up the prompt on her screen showing the Cruiser’s descent. The coordinates progressed in a crescent stopping directly above a city.

“They’re meaning to glass this planet?” He said under his breath. “Fire at their engines, now. Give them everything we got.” He ordered.

Captain Persie’s crew rushed as fast as they could with Sevenfold Gates toward the Cruiser. The sun began to disappear as they were breaching Meridians atmosphere. Both warships descent reached top speed as a blanket of fire and smoke wrapped the front to back of both crafts. Sevenfold Gates fired MAC rounds obliterating the engines of the Cruiser. A loud howling noise blared throughout the sky as the Cruiser began to spin out of control. Four EMP missile tracked the Cruiser as its shields flickered. As the Cruiser rotated with debris from the engines flying in all directions, the bow faced the incoming missiles. They penetrated the warship, blowing an immense hole where the bridge of the craft was and the Covenant Cruiser went dark blending in with the night sky but the fire kept it visible.

“Where is it landing?” Persie shouted.

“It’s going to hit the edge of the city of Virgo. The ship will remain intact but the impact will take out miles of the city” Adams reported. Persie leaned on his chair grasping It as hard as he could. This was not what he had planned, he should have been more careful. He knew this was his fault but believed if he hadn’t fired at the Covenant Cruiser the whole city would be lost. Chills ran down his spin as he fought the urge to scream. If humanity could win the battle then these people wouldn’t die in vain; he chose to focus on that thought.

“Level the ship. Head back up to the battle.” Persie ordered as he approached Adams directly. The pilots nodded simultaneously.

“Alert UEG and UNSC bases, inform them the city of Virgo has been compromised and to prepare for an invasion.”

“Yes, sir.” Adams nodded and opened coms.

Agent Toland sat beside Colonel Gear adjacent to Ethan and his family. Allen and Emily conversated quickly most likely talking about their plans for the UEG base they were going to oversee on their new home. The planet was given a name yet but it was out of the way of the war, yet to be colonized. The Fosters were going to be one of thousands of families to be transported to the planet most of them coming from Inner Colonies. Toland hoped that if he survived this battle he would go to Reach and possibly retire, maybe even have Rachel Hoss join him. He had always felt something toward her and felt that if they won the war she would come crawling to him but wasn’t entirely sure if the felt the same. One thing was certain, aside from that; Ethan was important.

He was chosen by some type of A.I. to warn humanity of the Luminary possibly even prevent humanities extinction. This new home for his family was going to ensure his safety and hopefully he would be contacted by Accent again. Toland smiled to himself resting his head on the back of his seat knowing he had succeeded. After thirteen years, he finally found a child that proved his very research to be correct. Together, they stopped the Covenant from glassing Meridian as soon as they arrived. Colonel Gear was impressed with him which meant he was going to be promoted or even transferred deeper into ONI literally giving him endless strings to pull. Toland felt accomplished but he knew it wasn’t over just yet.

A loud explosion alerted everyone on the Pelican as it flew above the city of Virgo. Toland and Colonel Gear exchanged looks before Toland raced toward the cock-pit.

“What the hell was that?” he breathed.

“A Covenant Cruiser, sir.” The main pilot yelled back pointing up. Toland approached the pilots window watching as a UNSC warship chased a Covenant Cruiser into atmosphere. The Cruiser was hit severely and was spinning out of control.

“It’s going to land on the edge of the city everyone needs to be strapped in.” The pilot said. Toland marched back to his seat.

“Buckle up, a Covenant Cruiser is about to crash land outside Virgo.”

“A Cruiser made it through?” Allen looked surprised.

“Yes,”

“Oh my god” Emily breathed strapping Ethan as fast as she could. Colonel Gear had already strapped himself as Toland sat down. He whipped sweat off his forehead and tried to disguise his fear but the expression he gave Toland was clear that he knew how bad the situation was. The pilots steered away from the city heading toward Gilroy. The pelican was launched into hyper speed forcing everyone further into their seats. This lasted for several seconds until a loud humming was heard over the sound of the engines and a loud thud followed by a bright light. Within seconds the blast wave caught up with the pelican and they began to descend out of control. Emergency lights went on and cargo broke from their holds and luggage was tossed around as if they were on raging bull. Ethan could see that panic in everyone’s eyes. He tried as hard as he could to remain calm and began to pray, not to god, but to Accent. Please save us, he muttered to himself but before he knew it everything went dark as the pelican slammed into the ground.