ambush above the ring

Chapter 7

Eliza and Rook followed Horatio back through the ship, eventful ending up at the door his team got stuck at the first time. Eliza put her hand up against the door, analysing it for any weakness or means of opening.

"Its sealed tight Spartan, we tried our best to force it open but no dice." he explained

"It looks like it just needs a little spartan persuasion, Rook, give me a hand" she said.

Together, both Spartans reached down and began lifting the door, screeches of metal against metal as the door protested on being opened this way. As it rose to chest height, Rook ducked under so he could use his shoulder to better distribute the weight, slowly raising himself to max height. Once he was at full stance, he quickly ushered the other two to get in, and once inside, he lifted it a little higher, before rolling under himself. He had barely made it through just as the door slammed back down.

"Looks like were not going back that way", Horatio said gloomily.

"Trooper focus, how far to the reactor now", Eliza asked.

He snapped out of his worried state, and lead them down a corridor, then up an emergency access ladder, eventually ending up right outside the reactor. Surprisingly, the reactors door was functional and didn't require any persuasion, despite Horatio wanting to see another test of a Spartans Skills. Once inside the chamber, Rook found a nearby terminal and began running a diagnostic, while Eliza and the trooper waited patiently.

"Looks like the reactor hasn't been compromised, but a lot of the power lines have been severed, lateral thrusters are offline, main thruster are operating at 30 percent power but they require a restart." he explained

"What about comms", Eliza asked.

"Long range comms are a no go, it looks like the comms array was severed by something during the attack, I can get shipwide comms working, but it will take time"

"Do it, we need to let Bishop know what's going on"

On the other side of the ship, Bishop and Knights journey was moving at a far slower pace. There was numerous blockages caused by debris, and they had to take care when removing it. They had met up with some engineers along the way, and with their laser cutter, the pace was quickening.

"So your saying there is one corridor between us and the bridge" he said rather loudly as his voice emitter was being drown out by the machinery at work.

"yeah, but we have to move slowly, we cant risk collapsing our only way in, the captain and bridge crew might need medical help and this is their only chance to get it" the lead engineer explained.

Bishop nodded and continued helping them work, each time a piece of metal was cut free, one of the Spartans took hold of it and carefully moved it down the corridor and out of the way. They had made it right up to the bridge door and were preparing to breach it when his helmet comm lit up.

"Hey Bishop, Rook got the internal comms online, but thanks to the damage it seems we are the only ones that can make use of it. How goes it on your end" Eliza asked over comms

"Its been slow going, the damage to this section of the ship has been catastrophic. We have several dead and many more wounded. We've been assisting a group of engineers and are right at the bridge. Did you find out the status of the ship," he asked.

"Its not looking good, most of the ships thrusters are no longer functioning, with the main drive only operating at 30 percent, that's if we can get it back online. Reactor is stable but the power lines connecting it to various parts of the ship are gone. She's barely sea worthy, we should abandon ship and head back to the Changing of the Guard."

"That's not my call, lets hope the Captain or someone from the chain of command is alive, so that they can make the decision. Just in case., make your way back to us and try and round up any survivors and lead them to the hangar. I'll get back to you once we get into the bridge." Bishop out

Bishop rejoined Knight and they proceeded to assist in getting the the bridge door open, having to use the same spartan persuasion that Rook and Eliza did earlier. Once the door was lifted, an engineer applied bolts to the frame, causing it to stay open. As soon as Bishop entered the room, he noticed many wounded crew members laid out throughout the bridge, with able bodied crew assisting with their injuries, one of which was a tall slender man with oak leaves on his shoulder, signifying that he was the ships captain. Bishop approached him, while Knight and the other troopers assisted the wounded.

"Captain, Ive been sent by Captain Faustina of the Changing of the Guard, I'm here to offer assistance." he said as he knelt down beside him.

"Faustina always was overly protective, I liked that about her" he got up but hadn't yet looked at Bishop yet. "If you don't mind me asking, how the hell did you manage to get on" before he finished his sentence he had finally turned and seen the 7 foot tall spartan standing in front of him

"Well that answers that question, we need to assess the damage of the Reverie" he added

"My 2nd in command has already done that Captain, I'm patching her in now" he said as he opened his comm channel and routed Eliza's voice through the helmets speaker so the Captain could hear.

She began to tell him the status of his vessel, each new sentence wounded him deeper. For a Captain to learn that their vessel is no longer ship shape, was the ultimate horror story. Once she had finished explaining, she closed the comm. The Captain paced to the front of his ship, looking out towards the distant halo ring and the planet that hung behind it.

"I agree with your 2nds input, we need to abandon ship, can we get a message out to the other vessels, we will need them to send their drop ships to assist."

"I have an idea for that captain, I recommend issuing the abandon ship order, ill handle the message.

The Captain flipped a switch on his chair and a siren started blaring throughout the entire ship. Even when the ships communications were down, it still had a redundant fail-safe to get the message out to abandon. All the crew of the bridge who could walk had made their way out, anyone that couldn't was stretchered out. Only bishop and the command crew had stayed behind.

"Eliza, I need another favour" he asked over his helmets comm.

"Was getting the lights working again not enough." she laughed..

"Funny, I need you go outside and send a tight beam transmission to Faustina, she needs to send more ships to help with evacuation."

"Got it, ill go look for a window." she said as she turned off her comm

Eliza and Rook made her way back through the ship, eventually finding the hole they had entered through. She eyed up the distance and calculated how much momentum shed need to clear it.

"Are we really going back out there," Rook asked as he too eyed up the distance

"Your staying here, ill go out by myself, wouldn't want you tripping and ending up like Bishop" she added

"Wow, your smack talking the squad leader behind his back" he laughed.

"Just shut it and help me with the jump"

Rook linked his hands together and bent down, grabbing onto Eliza's foot. On the count of three, he jumped up and launched her up and out of the hole. As she ascended out the hole, she quickly shifted her momentum and caught on to a piece of debris, using it to lift herself onto the outside hull. Once on top she could just about make out the frigate Panama, that was sitting a few hundred kilometres near by. She shouldered her rifle to make use of its scope, giving her greater magnification, before sending a short burst of data.

"Lets hope someone is listening."

On the bridge of the Changing, Faustina waited rather impatiently for some sort of response, either from Valkyrie and the Reverie, or from the enemy vessel launching another wave. She was starting to lose hope when Connor interrupted the silence.

"Incoming message from the Panama, they have received a tight beam transmission from the Reverie. The Captain is abandoning ship and request immediate assistance. Panama has sent over their pelicans and requesting we do the same"

"Good, give the order, and tell Banov that he and his wingman are needed once again."