"To be human can mean many things. It can be how one acts, how one thinks, or how one lives." Admiral Keck paused to read his next line of notes. "The recent colonization and expansion into the universe has made us turn back to our roots. The galaxy is a dark and cold place, and we need something to keep us safe. We are weak and frail, but we can create something strong and hard."
"Hundreds of thousands of years ago, the first men banded together in caves, trying to seek shelter from the cold harsh winters of the ice age. It was here, perhaps by accident, man discovered fire. It provided warmth to protect our bodies from nature, it could protect man by scaring off wild animals. But as we soon found out, it could also be used for a very sinister purpose, for war." Admiral Keck paused again to read his notes.
"Fire is the most basic method of protection, it is security from the elements, from hunger and disease, and from fellow man and animal. It is the most essential tool to mankind, and without it we would be nothing. And for that reason, we have decided to name the latest Colonial vessel, the Spirit of Fire." Admiral Keck turned his head to look behind him as the curtain covering the massive viewport was dropped.
Behind it was a million ton piece of machinery that represented the latest humanity had to offer. With one light MAC cannon, three 12 inch twin cannon turrets, six Archer missile quad cells, eight Longbow Anti-Ship missiles, and four Katana fighter aircraft, the ship was at best moderately armed. But it was not built for the purpose of fighting. It could deliver a knockout blow to some pirates, that is for sure, but the sensor ability of the ship was quite astounding. It was capable of tracking millions of targets on radar at the same time, categorizing them by threat level and automatically dealing with them using the automatic defense turrets if need be. It was also the fastest ship in the UNSC arsenal, capable of traversing the UNSC empire within a few weeks, responding to any problem before it became a serious threat.
The ship was designed from the beginning to be a fast response ship, something to give colonists in the outer colonies a sense of protection, knowing that their government would be there for them in their hour of need. It was a deterrent to pirates, the sudden realization that no part of the empire was absent of UNSC military might would cause all those who rebelled to rethink their plans to attack civilian ships.
Contained within the bowels of the ship were the real force. One single marine battalion. On paper, it did not sound like much. What could a little over three hundred men hope to accomplish if a pirate or rebel force of say 4,000 attacked a colony?
But looks are not everything, as these men were the best of the best. Known as the 305th "Phoenix" battalion, they were equipped with specially modified Pelican dropships, with added ceramic plates on the leading edges of the aircraft. This allowed for extremely high speed entries into the atmosphere of planets. To compensate for the added weights the dropships had booster packs mounted on the top, which could propel the craft upwards into orbit at a stomach turning rate of 20 kilometers per minute.
It could come down twice as fast, although the rate of descent would probably create a real mess of the cargo bay. This was very helpful when avoided anti-aircraft fire or escaping enemy fighters. Pelicans were easy targets for pirates flying captured Dagger fighters, and at low altitude they were also vulnerable to Hawk jump jets, but the booster packs provided a quick get-away.
The 305th was also equipped with specially designed Warthog LRV's. In exchange for the Cummings Turbo Diesel W8 engine, which produced a staggering 2,500 ft-lb's of torque, the Warthogs were given a Yamaha 3.4L Twin Turbocharged Ethanol powered Inline 8 cylinder engine. It produced an equally staggering 3,500 wheel horsepower. The engine was not quite as reliable as the trusty Diesel warthog, but it certainly was faster. Partly due to the fact that the M12XS was built using titanium armor instead of steel, the vehicle was half the weight of its older M12A cousin, which in combination with the higher output engine allowed for a top speed of 240 KmpH.
The M12XS could also carry a 155mm recoiless rifle. Nicknamed the "Gauss" cannon after the late 18th century german mathematician, this prototype weapon could hit targets several kilometers away. In addition it was unique in that it could fire a 1 kiloton nuclear warhead if need be. The speed of the M12XS allowed the vehicle to escape the blast radius if the weapon were fired at a target within a half kilometer range. It was also equipped to withstand the EMP blast of a nuclear weapon, making it totally impervious to nuclear or electronic attack. Unfortunately this meant resorting to the old dial type guages of the 20-21st century, something that was considered too "old school" for new recruits and long time veterans alike.
April 26, 2425 (Military Calendar)/Planet Augusta Doralium - Rebel Vessel Olympian Challenger
"Sir, we'll be leaving slipstream in 30 seconds. Last communication with our contact indicated that the last UNSC Frigate left port two days ago. Without slipstream communications it won't know about us until it jumps back into real space. That should give us several weeks to complete our mission."
"Good. Order our landing team to prepare for departure. I want everyone ready for action. Those colonists are gonna put up a fight, even if they only have a few weapons." The Captain gave a slight vengeful grin. The colonists would pay for their defiance.
The Olympian Challenger jumped into real space. The antiquated UNSC destroyer was decomissioned at Reach four years ago. It had not been scrapped, as it was still considered part of the reserve fleet which was left in mothballs at the naval drydock there. Being the largest ship in the reserve fleet, it was the perfect target for a pirating attempt, but the UNSC had failed to provide proper security. Now it along with six other ships had been captured and were now being operated by the rebel group "Saviors of Humanity." Their claim to legitimacy was simple, that the UNSC had no legitimacy over anyone but earth. In reality however, they didn't care for legitimacy, they were only in the business for the money.
"All systems on line, batteries manned and ready." The weapons officer reported.
"I'm picking up a pair of colonial defense ships in bound. Looks like Mark IV class. I'm picking something else up.....they've opened fire, Crossbow missiles in bound!" The sensors operated alerted the captain.
"Auto defense batteries target the missiles and fire. Get our 16 inch guns into action, come about to 160 and down 40 degreees. Once we have a solution I want both of our dorsal turrets to fire!" The captain ordered. Immediately the ship's emergency maneuvering thrusters went into action, turning the ship to the left and down, bringing both dorsal guns into perfect firing position on the small colonial vessels. Meanwhile, eight crossbow missiles streaked in towards the Olympian Challenger, which responded by firing a barrage of 40mm anti-aircraft rounds. Three missiles were shredded, but the remaining five breached the wall of lead, finding their target.
"Damage report." The Captain remained calm, the dorsal armor was thick probably absorbed most of the damage.
"All systems still functional, Camera's show scaring and burns on the dorsal armor but no penetration."
The Captain glanced back at the sensors, to watch as the 16 inch rounds found their marks. The first Colonial ship was struck by a pair of rounds from the the forward turret. The ship expoded as it's armor was overwhelmed by the massive cannons. The second ship was struck by a single round from the aft turret, the round hit a soft spot on the ship and pierced completely through the craft, leaving it drifting in space lifeless.
"Enemy vessels neutralized. Sensors indicates no ground batteries present on the surface."
The Captain smiled again. "Good, tell our landing team they are clear and can deploy whenever they are ready."
May 3, 2425 (Military Calendar)/Planet Reach - Epsilon Eridani system
"Battery One!" The weapons officer on board declared through the comlink system.
Green lights of acknowledgement came up across his console, indicating that the 12 inch gun batteries were armed and ready to fire.
"All batteries, Fire!" The order rang out.
The Spirit of Fire shook as all six cannons fired simultaneously.
"Splash." The weapons officer again ordered. The Sensors operator flipped a switch on his screen to load up the infra-red detection system.
Ten seconds later small white splotches appeared.
"Target destroyed." The sensor operator reported. "Selecting new target, bearing 192, at 36 degrees, Range 67,000 kilometers."
The weapons officer typed in the new information to the gun batteries and the ships computer. "We have a firing solution. All batteries fire for effect."
The batteries began to fire off at intervals, two every second. For ten seconds this continued, causing the ship's floor to vibrate, and creating a nice foot massage for any officer on deck.
"Cease-Fire!" The weapons officer declared. Again the sensor operator reported that the target had been destroyed.
"Excellent work. Bring the ship about to...." The X.O. glanced down at his console. "189 at 41 degrees. Lets test the MAC cannon on the nearest asteroid."
"Aye, bringing to new course 189 at 41 degrees."
The ship's maneuvering thrusters fired, turning the craft 85 degrees to port and up 5 degrees. The ship was now lined up with an asteroid 2000 kilometers dead ahead.
"MAC cannon is online, all systems running normally." The weapons officer reported.
"Good, fire away lieutenant."
The ship's lights dimmed, as the massive power needed to operate the weapon was sucked from the life support systems and re-routed to the MAC cannon generators. A short second later, the ship shuddered, and the asteroid exploded. Their was no fireball, only rock and ice fragments sent everywhere, as the tungsten rod pierced the small planetoid, completely disrupting its internal integrity and hitting it with such violent force that it simply disentigrated.
"Very nice. Select four new targets, and acquire and fire at them as fast as possible." The X.O. ordered.
The ship ran through a series of quick maneuvering, leaving the steering and weapons control to the on board computer. Every few seconds the ship would line up with a new target and fire it's MAC cannon, destroying the target immediately. The ship would then align with a new target and repeat the process. All together it was quick, painless, but extremely cold and violent.
