UNSC Myriad [WIP]

{The 2641 Battle of Chihahna 4 - Click to Expand}

The 2641 Battle of Chihahna 4 took place over the outer colony it is named after, 'Chihahna 4', colloquially known as Chiha. Promethean forces, a mere scout party yet clearly out manning and out gunning the local UNSC garrison, exited slip-space at 08:43 in the dark side of Chihahna 4b, the second tidally locked moon of the planet. Cyber attacks began upon the small work colony within minutes of the slip-space jump registering on UNSC servers. Communication was cut, and only hard lined communication stations remained up and running to register the attack and most importantly, warn the colonists and the UNSCDF of the coming threat.

The Promethean drone Fence-class Fighter Bombers immediately swarmed the colony, beginning a bombing campaign that only ended with the arrival of the UNSC Luxor, an Autumn-class Heavy Frigate that immediately launched it's fighter compliment and engaged the Promethean Fences in combat. Soon the Fences were joined by their fleet, two Bastion-class Carriers disengaged themselves from stable orbit behind the planet's second moon. As if a meteor shower had suddenly struck the small colony, the skies over the major population areas lot red with the light of falling pods. Promethean Towers, carrying the data stores, particle construction stations and ready made Promethean and Sentinel Constructs, crashed deep into the surface of the planet. As they opened they released wave after wave of Promethean forces upon the lightly armed civilians, Colonial Militia and UNSCDF.

The UNSC Luxor, under the command of Captain William Herrik launched all available Marines, ODSTs and the one squad of SPARTAN Vs under his command to relieve ground forces. Every available Pelican, Pod and Darter was launched to the surface baring troops, vehicles and armaments for the civilians. Broadswords were launched to engage the renewed waves of Fence-class fighters, in an attempt to defend the Shortswords as they attempted to bring down the Towers. It was Captain Herrik's next, brave, move to head directly into combat with the Promethean Carriers. The battle was long, protracted by constant needs to retreat out of the effective range of the Promethean's energy-based weaponry while peppering the Promethean's with missile upon missile salvo. Cpt Herrik led the Prometheans into low orbit around Chihahna's secondary moon, and remote detonated the UNSC Frigate's low-yield HAVOK missile (secreted into location mere moments before by the brave crew of Darter AU-1034-26) as the Promethean vessels passed over it. The moon's thin ,partially terraformed, atmosphere erupted in flames - shattering the shielding on the Promethean vessels. A crater, roughly 25,000 km in diameter, was formed from the bomb and the simply massive discharge of material from the moon pelted the Promethean vessels, crippling one and completely destroying the second. Cpt Herrik, narrowly escaping the destruction himself, turned his Frigate around and engaged the crippled carrier - it's lack of shielding making it vulnerable to the Frigate's MAC blasts. As the last Promethean Carrier died, so too did the control it had over the ground forces on the clone itself. The uncoordinated invasion force was quickly destroyed.

{The Second Battle of Chihahna 4: - Click to Expand}

The Myriad Fleet exited slip-space around Chihahna 4. Opening contact with the colony led to the news that there hadn't been an attack on the planet for four years. The confused and disheartened crew of the Myriad had lost yet another trail on the Prometheans to a dead link, probably an Insurrectionist trick or a delayed message from a damage buoy.

But that was far from the truth. As slip-space jumps registered on their sensors, the Myriad soon found itself ambushed by not one or two Promethean vessels, but an entire fleet. Keep-class Frigates immediately engaged the Myriad's fleet, harassing it's escort and damaging it's shielding. Bastion-class Carriers, at least 4 of them reared into view and launched countless Fence-class Fighter Bombers to engage the fleet and the colony in a repeat of the events four years prior. But the worst was yet to come, as an enormous Citadel-class flagship - dwarfing even the Myriad - loomed in the distance. The Myriad launched it's Frigate and Destroyer complements, immediately becoming embroiled in a fight against the Keep-class Frigates assaulting the fleet. The UNSC Carriers accompanying the Myriad were completely bogged down, Promethean Frigates swarming them like bees, making the Carriers unable to launch their fighter complements.

Cpt Herrik had a hard decision to make, force his Carriers to defend for themselves and instruct the Frigates and Cruisers at his disposal to attempt to aid them or to engage the Promethean Carriers launching a devastating assault upon the planet. The Myriad sped towards the Carriers, and before the slow moving vessels had even registered it's change in direction the Myriad's complement of four MACs and three Energy Projectors had simultaneously fired and crippled one of the vessels. As the Promethean Carrier began it's slow uncontrolled descent towards the planet, the Myriad sped through the deveststion it had caused and cleaved a second Prometean Carrier in two. The Myriad sustained minor damage from the impact, having thrown the majority of its shielding power in front of it as an effective ram, but immediately engaged the final two carriers with its massive assortment of missiles, MACs and Energy Projectors.

Meanwhile, the Myriad Fleet had secured it's Carriers with minimal losses, but the attention it had given to securing itself had left the line broken and soon they were engaged in battle with a second wave. And the Citadel itself. The fleet could only watch, their weapons powerless, as the Citadel seemed to open like a deathly flower. Power could be seen charging from a pylon in the centre, much like the Covenant energy projectors they had all seen before. Yet so very, very different. It was beautiful, yet horrifying, as the golden-red light shot forth from the Citadel and struck one of the Carriers. The shielding, reverse engineered from Covenant and Promethean technologies many years before, shattered like glass and flickered out of existence and the beam simply cut the vessel in half.

All hands were lost on the UNSC Indomitable, both sections of the Vessel were quickly engulfed in internal explosions. Silent, deadly, captivating. The shell-shocked UNSC fleet heard only the one order, the sound for retreat, from the Captains lips. Three out of four of the Promethean carriers had been destroyed or crippled by the Myriad - but it's shields were suffering and against the Citadel... The best idea was the idea was to regroup. Deployed Marines, ODSTs and SPARTANs on the ground were given their last decisive orders to come for hours as communication was cut by the Citadel coming into orbit. Stay strong, fortify and gather the civilians for extraction.

It was a harrowing three hours for the Myriad and her compliment, the loss of two more frigates to the Citadel within half an hour of the call to retreat put some urgency into the Fleet. The Citadel was slow moving compared to the UNSC vessels, so the Myriad and her fleet gathered on the opposite side of Chihahna 4, currently out of the sunlight, and sent down what reinforcements they could before leaving Chihahna 4's orbit for the gas giant Chihahna 3. Along the way they were constantly harassed by the Promethean fleet hot on their tail, seemingly abandoning their assault on Chihahna 4 so they could pursue the Myriad Fleet.

The battle of Chihahna 4 had taken an unexpected turn for the UNSC, the ground forces had seemingly won as the Promethean forces were destroyed or routed. While the Fleet found itself hard pressed to escape the looming Promethean Fleet, constantly harassing them in their tactical retreat. The UNSC has the advantages of a determined escort - but the Promethean Fence-class Fighters were seemingly endless. Several frigates sustained crippling damage, falling behind only to be swarmed by the Promethean fighters and corvettes. The UNSC forces eventually managed to reach Chihahna 3, gathering around an automated mining facility. The facility, being on the UNSC borders, was outfitted with automated defenses. However, the point defence turrets and two retrofitted 'Onager' rail guns were hardly worthy of combating the Promethean Fleet. But the Myriad Fleet, never one to be put off by the odds, turned around to face their foes in a classic defensive line. As the swarm of Promethean Fence-class Fighters bordered the horizon, the Myriad's Sabre and Broadsword complements sped forth to meet them in combat. Outnumbered, yet determined, they put up a valiant fight. Gains were made, thanks to the automated defences on the platform and the UNSC fleet, but that didn't stop the Prometheans from advancing.

Corvettes and Frigates, backed up by Cruisers, were next. The Myriad Fleet knew their targets, and the Myriad herself proved exceptionally suited to her role, using plasma projectors to burn through the Promethean shielding while their MAC strikes crippled the weakened vessels. But all was for naught, as when the Citadel-class flagship entered into range and it's deathly flower opened to the cosmos it tore through not one Cruisers but two with its first strike. The second crippled a Carrier, forcing the weakened vessel back behind the lines. The third would take a larger prize.

All was lost, the Myriad Fleet was in disarray and the Prometheans were assaulting with excessive force. Several Cruisers and Frigates were punctured with Promethean Towers - their marines already deployed and leaving the Fleet undefended to the boarding assault. It dawned upon Herrik that this fleet, this overly armed fleet, had not come for some backwater planet. There had been excessive surveys of the Chihahna System, and there were no Forerunner structures hidden here. Instead this fleet was here to hunt them, hunt the Myriad. Show the UNSC the price of their ego, their threat. Just as the Myriad had lured Insurrectionist forces using a fake signal, so had the Promethean's lured her. She would serve not as the shield of Humanity, but instead her debris would be left to float the dead colony. Her broken back a sign to Humanity, the Sangheili, the San'Shyuum, that their time had come. The age of the 'Lesser Races' was over.

But the Myriad would not be a corpse left to rot. She would be a martyr, a hero, a vessel that would go down in history as defending the UNSC to its last man. The Captain gave the order, his officers seemed shocked at first. But their faces hardened, they too were determined to finish their hunt. The Myriad begun it's advance, the rest of the Fleet followed, maintaining healthy distance, and fought back the Promethean forces as the Myriad closed upon the Citadel-class. The Myriad begun it's constant bombardment, volleys of MAC rounds were thrown against the Promethean's shield. The three energy projectors tore at the superior shielding. The HAVOK was loaded. The Citadel seemed to take notice, and as the jaws of the Myriad's demise opened to devour the ship, her crew and her Captain - the HAVOK was launched.

The plan was simple. It would be costly, but it would succeed. The HAVOK would destroy the enemies shielding completely. The Myriad would then ram the Citadel, the excessive damage would eventually trigger an explosion within its own core - the slip-space drive would collapse and the Citadel would crumble.

Yet she still lives today, serving the UNSC with pride. The HAVOK passed harmlessly through the shielding. A momentary break in the shield had let the weapon through. The Citadel had lowered it's shielding in order to shoot it's energy projector, and while a normal MAC round would have merely pierced it's super structure, the HAVOK had caused much more damage. Trapped within the shielding, the vast explosion completely melted away the Citadel's armour. The shields broke in a blaze of light as that system became too damaged to sustain. A series of chain reactions begun when the built up store of plasma within the energy projector was released internally. The entire vessel burst like a bubble, cheers erupted across the Command Deck and the Promethean forces were quickly destroyed.

While the one remaining Carrier had remained in orbit around Chihahna 4, it had been taken down by the valiant efforts of the Myriad's SPARTANs, ODSTs, Marines and UNSCDF Pilots and Militia. Many had lost their lives in the assault, but the triumphant return of the Myriad Fleet was celebrated across the colony.