ambush above the ring

Chapter 1

The cramped bridge of the UNSC Changing of the Guard glowed bright as the light source created by slipspace travel pierced through its viewports, casting a blue haze on the various control panels. The vessels crew shifted around, seeing to the necessary tasks required to keep them on course. Two figures stood at the frigates main viewport, pondering out into the void. The smaller of the two, was Captain Faustina Scrin, the vessels commander. She was looking over the star charts that appeared on the screens to her left, occasionally reviewing data brought forward by her subordinates The larger one stood a good 2 feet above everyone else on the bridge, his body shrouded behind a set of black power armour, with a small red streak that ran down his right arm. That was Commander Jacob Bishop, Spartan and squad leader of Fire-team Valkyrie. He was in charge of Changing of the Guards spartan complement.

He stood with his arms crossed behind his back, giving off an aura of confidence and control. He had removed his helmet and placed it on a chair beside him. While everyone else on the bridge were speaking to one another about their tasks, he, like always, had chosen to listen. Spartans were humanity's greatest instrument, not only were the the perfect soldier, they were also an inspiration to those around them, a force multiplier, ONI had called them. They were augmented heavily to improve their chances of survival in combat. One of their many upgrades, was enhanced senses, which Bishop was currently using to analyse the current situation. Not just what was on the monitors in front of him, he was also picking up on all the body language of the crew. The tired groans as they worked through there fifth shift without rest, their nervous twitches as they wondered if this may be their last mission. As far as Bishop was concerned, nothing would happen to this ship or its crew. That's what his squad was there for.

Ever since the created incident and the threat it posed, the UNSC had deployed a spartan fire-team to most unsc vessel. What better way to protect a ship from unknown dangers, than a group of four highly trained and skilled Spartans. Fire-team Valkyrie were assigned to the frigate two weeks ago, transferred from the UNSC infinity, the ship that a lot of Spartans considered home. But not bishop, his home was his squad, and what ever ship they were currently stationed on. To him, each and every crew member was his family, from the captain and her bridge crew, to the pelican pilots and the marine compliment onboard, and everyone in between. He and Valkyrie had served aboard countless vessels, and protected each crew with their lives. He hadn't lost anyone yet, and he was sure as hell not going to lose anyone today.

Before the created conflict, fire-team Valkyrie specialised in boarding actions and airborne operations. Wearing a modified version of Mjolnir, they could operate in a vacuum as well as deploy unassisted onto a planets surface, thanks in part to their enhanced retrograde thrusters. Orbital insertion isn't a new concept for the UNSC, they already had a special forces branch that did it, but Valkyrie did it better, and they didn't need a pod to slow down, the ground would do that for them instead. Since the created popped up, they hadn't done very much drops, mostly boarding defence. The rest of Valkyrie missed the thrill of the jump, and wanted to get back out into the black, but Bishop didn't mind playing it safe.

"We are all set to reach the location in 40 minutes commander" Captain Scrin said as she turned to Bishop.

"Roger that ma'am, I'll assemble my team and await further orders" he responded as he flashed a salute, grabbed his helmet and exited the bridge.