ambush above the ring

Chapter 5

The Pelican dropped free of the frigates hangar and sank into the black, using its smaller RCS thrusters to push itself clear of the ship, before orienting itself towards the Reverie. There was a quick jolt inside the vehicle, as the pilot keyed the main thrusters switch, sending them on their way. Bishop stood in the cargo area, with Rook and Knight, while Eliza was up front with the pilots, peering through the cockpit canopy, using her enhanced sensors to examine the wounded Reverie.

"Any ideas on how we board her", he asked through his helmets comm link.

"Hangar bays are a no go, without power, those doors ain't opening for anyone, and we didn't pack plasma cutters." Knight added

"You know my solution" Rook spoke as he held up a fragmentation grenade , even with his helmet on, it was clear he was smirking.

"You have a serious problem Rook," Bishop shrugged as he shot down his solution.

"Why do you think I chose to join the Spartans, I never got to blow this much shit up when I was a marine. Plus, when a spartan asks for your rocket launcher, no one bats an eye"

Before Bishop could respond to his comment, Eliza butted in.

"I know how we can get in Bishop," she said as she used her helmets built in binoculars to zoom in on the hole left by the Plasma torpedo.

The pelican's ramp lowered as the air blasted out of the cargo bay, the Spartans mag boots keeping them from drifting out into the dark. Bishop approached the edge of the ramp, looking down at the mangled Reverie that lay below, and more importantly, the 10 foot wide hole caused by the enemy projectile. After a quick scan of his surrounding, he motioned to his squad, who were lined up behind him. One at a time, they leaped out of the vessel, their momentum launching them to the hull of the frigate. Once each member had safely made their way down, Bishop stepped back before jumping into a sprint, just as his feet were about to leave the pelicans ramp, the whole ship shifted hard left, throwing him off course.

"Bishop" each squad member screamed out in unison as they watched their comrade being flung well clear of the ship.

Alarms went off inside his helmets display, letting him know that he was in an unassisted spiral, which wasn't that helpful considering he was feeling the effects himself. Any normal person would panic at the thought of being violently swung around in space, but Bishop wasn't a normal person, he was a Spartan. His heart rate and breathing were relaxed, as he assumed a brace position and keyed his armours thrusters, firing them off in short burst, to conserve fuel and orient him. Once he counteracted the spin, he used his HUD to plot a point to the Reverie, then activated his thrusters once more, this time he used much more fuel, as he shot towards the Frigates hull.

"Current trajectory will cause an impact with the target, recommend new course" his suits computer told him.

Bishop keyed his thruster one final time, adjusting his trajectory so that he would just slip past the hull, as he approached his insertion point, he realised he didn't have enough fuel left to counter his momentum. Before he had time to think up a plan, he saw three Spartans, huddled together in front of him, with Eliza in the middle.

"Don't worry Bishop, we got you" she said as Rook and Knight lifted her up, raising her high enough for her to grab bishops leg as he drifted helplessly by. Her armoured glove locked its grip onto his ankle and yanked him out of his flyby. The other two lowered her down as she pulled him closer, before he grabbed her shoulder and self righted himself, his magnetic boots clicking in as he touched down on the helm.

"What would I do without you three" he laughed, before changing his tone to be more appreciative.

"Thanks", he said as the four were still huddled close .

"Now, how about we get ourselves inside this scrapheap, before someone looks through a window and see four Spartans playing acrobatics" Eliza joked.

"Good idea, and lets hope this ship can still fly, because I used all my thrusters juice on that little manoeuvrer" Bishop added.

"Its alright 1, if you ask nicely, I'm sure Knight will carry you home," Rook laughed as Bishop lightly slapped his shoulder.

"You know, if I wasn't wearing this shielded armour, that might have hurt me."

The Spartans made their way to the gaping hole, using their helmet lights to scan the entryway for any loose debris or anything else that could cause a problem when they made their decent. Once they had finished their scans, bishop took point this time, jumping feet first into the gap. He fell 20 feet, passing through 2 decks before his legs crashed down on the third decks floor. 3 thuds behind let him know that his squad in and they began making their was through the damaged sections.

"God damn," Rook said as they slowly pushed passed floating bodies, eviscerated from explosive decompression.

"Lets hope there wasn't many in this section when the torpedo hit"bishop said as he carefully grabbed each body he could reach, placing it on the ground. Eventually the made their way to a sealed bulkhead door.

"Eliza, your up, splice into the door," she nodded and began fiddling with the near by panel.

Bishop approached the door, knocking on it hard, using Morse code to let anyone on the other side know it was about to open.

"Got it", Eliza said as the door slid open, causing air to leak out past them and into space.

"Everyone in, lets not waste any more air than we have to" Bishop added as each one bounded through.

Eliza sealed the door, and cycled the air to pressurise the room, allowing Valkyrie to no longer rely on their internal oxygen tanks. This hallway was similar to the first, but it branched off to the right at the end. She set to work opening the next door, but was beaten to it. As the door opened, two figures armed with assault rifles peered through. Bishop stood between his squad and the figures, that were now clearly security officers.

"Its alright trooper, Fire team Valkyrie, were hear to help" He added

"Spartans, the lead one said surprised as he lowered his weapon, his comrade did the same.

"When did you get here", the other trooper asked.

"Oh you know, we've just been hanging out" Eliza said sarcastically

Both troopers looked puzzled by her response, but before they could say anything, Bishop intervened.

"We were sent by the Captain of the changing of the Guard, we are here to offer assistance, what's the status of the Reverie.

"Life support and gravity are still functioning, but propulsion is down, as is most of our non essential systems." the trooper responded.

"What's the status of the reactor" Bishop inquired

"Its stable for the moment, we were on our way to check it out when we ran into you."

"Is this the only way to it," Bishop asked as he looked back at the door holding back the vacuum of space.

"The only direct route, we have tried two other sections, but the power is completely out and the doors are locked shut in those areas, you'd need super strength to get them open."

"Well we might be able to help with that, what's the status of the captain and bridge crew"

"Internal comms are down, there should be another team making their way to it now, but without anyway to radio, were forced to use runners." the second trooper added

"Alright, trooper Horatio," he said as he read his IFF tag through his helmet, "you take Rook and Eliza and make your way back to that door you couldn't open.

"Lyon" he motioned to the second soldier, "take me towards the bridge.

"Yes sir", they both responded as they broke up.

"Stay on comms, anything happens, keep me informed", he said to Eliza and Rook.

They both nodded and followed Horatio, once they had left Bishop and Knight fell in behind Lyon and made their way to the bridge.