Chapter 52

4 Years ago, 2527

On the Covenant world of Malurok, the High Prophet of Regret had traveled there seeking out a savage and cunning commander to name Arbiter. This decision of his had come at the continuous failures of Covenant attacks against some Human colonies. And, because of heavy human presence on the world of Harvest which they had previously glassed before.

As his ship landed, Regret and his Honor guard had proceeded towards the Weeping Shadows of Sorrow which is a Maximum-security penitentiary for Sangheili.

As Regret walked in, he proceeded towards a certain cell where a very interesting Sangheili was being kept. His name is Ripa 'Moramee, the savage.

Regret stood in front of his cell as the Sangheili came and kneeled in front of him. He then started to ask him various questions to ensure that he was still loyal to the great journey. After a few minutes of speaking to him Regret could see that he was indeed still loyal to the great journey.

And given his record he would be perfect for Regret to recruit so that he can have an agent of his own to name Arbiter and advance his personal plans.

"You shall be pardoned for your crimes, and you will become the seventeenth Arbiter" Stated Regret as the cell opened and Ripa 'Moramee the new Arbiter had followed Regret back to his ship.

Ripa 'Moramee now Arbiter, was given command of the Fleet of Glorious Interdiction a Sangheili-led force formalized by the Prophet of Regret. The fleet consisted of two Ket-pattern battlecruisers and two Sinaris-pattern heavy destroyers.

It took some convincing, but the other Prophets had agreed with the appointment of the new Arbiter, to deal with the rising Human threat which had been resisting their attempts at purging the entire race.

Now in 2531, On Harvest, Covenant forces had attacked a UNSC fortress numerous times and failed. After the recent attack, which was almost successful, they had found out that it was a Forerunner vault which led underground.

Upon hearing this the High Prophet of Regret who is obsessed with the Forerunners wanted to know what was in this vault. Allowing the humans to remain in control of this was non-negotiable.

The Arbiter was instructed to take back this holy relic from the Humans and find out its purpose.

Above Harvest, the Fleet of Glorious Interdiction had exited slipspace which immediately alerted the defending UNSC ships. Two Halcyon-Light Cruisers and a single Gorgon-class heavy destroyer had formed a Battlegroup to patrol above Harvest. Once they detected the Covenant exiting through slipspace, the Admiral leading the Battlegroup had ordered them to engage.

On the bridge of the leading Halcyon-Light Cruiser, Admiral Richard Fowler, a seasoned veteran from countless battles with the Covenant, watched grimly as the glow of the enemy's hull took form in the silent blackness of space. His weathered hand tightened around the grip of his command chair.

"Prepare to engage and send out a communication to the surface and to Admiral Cole that Harvest is under attack," he ordered, his voice steel-clad and resonating authority. The two cruisers and Gorgon-class destroyer fell into formation, as their MAC cannons readied for charge.

Back on the Covenant flagship, Arbiter Ripa 'Moramee stood imposingly on the elevated command platform, staring out at the rapidly approaching human vessels. His dual mandibles curled into a grin as he watched the Human vessels turn to fight them.

"Launch fighters," he commanded in a low growl. "Engage those human vessels directly – we shall not let them stand between us and our objective."

A swarm of Seraph fighters spiraled out from both battlecruisers followed by menacing waves of Phantoms and Banshees, lighting up space with their blue plasma trails while forming an offensive line between their capital ships and the human ships.

The first salvos of fire were traded between both sides as beams of red-hot plasma seared through space clashing against the shields of the human vessels.

Admiral Fowler's eyes narrowed as he watched the plasma projectiles collide against the shields of his ships. "Return fire," he ordered, and the human fleet complied. The MAC cannons fired in unison, accelerating towards the Covenant ships. The ships Autocannons targeted the closest Covenant ship which was one of the two Sinaris-pattern heavy destroyers.

At the same time the Covenant heavy destroyer returned fire targeting the UNSC destroyer.

"Evasive maneuvers!" barked the captain of the destroyer, his voice echoing sharply in the command deck, but his order came too late. The plasma torpedo struck, its impact shaking the entire ship. The ship's shields sputtered under the onslaught before finally collapsing and the destroyer staggered.

Onboard the Covenant flagship, Arbiter Ripa 'Moramee watched with satisfaction as the human vessel wavered under the Covenants firepower. With ruthless precision, he gave another command to his own forces. "All ships focus fire on the human destroyer. Neutralize it!"

The Covenant fleet directed their fire at the destroyer. The destroyer attempted to initiate invasive maneuvers, but it was not fast enough. As a result, its shields had failed and the plasma had crashed into it, tearing through its hull like it was made of paper.

Back on his ship, Admiral Fowler watched helplessly as his vessel buckled under the sustained Covenant assault and was finally engulfed in an explosion as its reactor core was hit. The force of the blast shook even Fowler's cruiser, forcing him to grip tightly onto his chair.

"On my order," he commanded in a voice filled with pain and anger, "target that Covenant flagship and fire everything we've got."

The surviving Halcyon-Light Cruisers turned around until their MAC cannons were aimed directly at the Covenant flagship.

"Fire!" Admiral Fowler barked, and twin trails of superheated tungsten raced from the human ships toward the Covenant flagship.

On the Arbiter's ship, the alarms blared in warning as the human vessels hurled their desperate retaliation. Ripa 'Moramee watched as the two sluggishly moving projectiles raced towards his ship. "Brace for impact!" he roared, his voice echoing on the vast bridge.

The MAC rounds impacted against the flagship's shields with a massive discharge of energy, causing it to shudder violently. The shield struggled to hold, wavering under the immense kinetic force unleashed upon it. Despite their strength, MAC rounds were never designed to crack through energy-shielded vessels, they were made to penetrate hulls of unshielded ships.

In response, Ripa 'Moramee barked at his subordinates. "Return fire! Concentrate all firepower on those cruisers! Bring them down!"

Covenant plasma torpedoes streaked through space and slammed into one of the Halcyon-light cruisers. The firepower of two Covenant battlecruisers and two Covenant heavy destroyers was just too much for the two Halcyon-light cruisers.

The energy shields held on until the final Plasma torpedo hit the cruiser. The vessel's shield flickered and then failed, dissolving into a dazzling array of sparks before sputtering out, leaving the ship vulnerable to the second volley of plasma torpedoes.

"Initiate the jump to warp speed" ordered Admiral Fowler as the two cruisers began to fire up their warp drive to jump away. But the plasma torpedoes were faster than the warp drive and had hit their target causing massive internal explosions that breached several hull locations.

"Admiral we can't jump to warp speed, or the ship will collapse because of hull breaches" Stated one of the bridge officers.

Admiral Fowler analyzed the situation and there was nothing else to do but fight till the end. "If we can't jump, then everybody gets to the escape pods," Stated Admiral Fowler as he stayed behind with the onboard AI and fired all weapons.

The two Halcyon-light Cruisers fired their remaining weapons at the Covenant ships while the crew ran for the escape pods. The Autocannons had done their job and managed to penetrate the shields of the Covenant Heavy destroyer, but a few minutes later the next volley of Plasma torpedoes had penetrated the hull of the cruisers.

Only a small number of crew managed to make it to the escape pods before the ships blew up. The escape pods headed towards the surface of the planet while the Covenant fleet moved into position above the planet.

In the next few minutes transport ships were launched from the Covenant fleet heading for the surface of the planet. Once again Harvest was being invaded.

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Prelude to next Chapter:

Admiral Cole receives word about the attack on Harvest and assembles his own battlegroup of 10 ships to prevent Harvest from being lost for a 2nd time.

As a result of the recent stalemate in the war and the more lives being lost some high-ranking Officers are demanding a change in leadership. 

The Covenant has not been able to find the location of the Human home world and will start to try and capture every human vessel they encounter to learn of its location to try and end the war. 

Amongst the Covenant forces, a name has started to go around regarding a certain Human Admiral who is known as a god of war, mainly because anybody that encounters his fleet never lives to tell the tale.