Chapter 91

Axel and the combined UNSC fleet had beat the Covenant force sent to attack the Epsilon Eridani system. Only 80 ships out of the 400 Covenant ships were able to successfully retreat from the battle. In a desperate attempt the Covenant fleet tried to send drop pods and transport ships down to the surface, but as soon as they came into contact with the planetary shield the Covenant transports and drop pods had run into a brick wall causing thousands of deaths without even landing on the planet.

The remaining transport that tried to return were intercepted by UNSC fighters and bombers causing thousands more Covenant troops to die. Unlike the outer colonies which were still hard to attack, the inner colonies would need a massive Covenant fleet just to take a single colony as the UNSC nor Axel would allow one of their key worlds to be taken so easily.

After the defeat of the Covenant fleet, Axel had received reports from various battles that were either going on or already finished. Within the Inner colonies naturally the UNSC was holding their ground and had managed to defeat more than 600 Covenant ships within 48 hours.

While the UNSC only lost about 200 ships with most of the crew able to get to escape pods saving thousands of lives in the process. Admiral Cole, who was still alive and in active service was in command of the 3rd fleet defending worlds within the Inner Colonies.

The outer Colonies defense was being taken care of by Admiral Harold Stanforth and the 5th Fleet alongside a few other Subordinate Admirals to target the smaller Covenant Fleets.

As of now Axel was aware of the massive Covenant Fleet above Andesia and had suspected that this was the main Covenant Fleet. As of now he wouldn't take that fleet on as it would risk the defense of other planets, and since Andesia was the target of a massive Covenant invasion force he had decided that instead of sitting within the command of his ship, it would be better to go and fight on the ground, with all the improved technology and augmentations he didn't need to micromanage every single thing as he could leave that to his subordinates.

If he needed to return to command his fleet, then he could just return via teleporter and assume command immediately. In the meantime, he placed Vice Admiral Walker in command while he was away.

A few ground battles were going on across many worlds within the outer colonies and some of the inner colony border worlds as the Covenant had managed to overwhelm the UNSC defenses. However, all these worlds were low populated worlds making it easy to evacuate civilians and set up defenses to halt the progress of the Covenant.

On a few of these worlds the Covenant had bombed the planet from orbit hoping to soften the defenses of the UNSC, but that plan would never work as the shields for the UNSC bases resisted the plasma bombardments protecting all the military personnel and vehicles on the planet.

With a quick briefing from Admiral Cole on the current progress of the 3rd Fleet, Axel went to the surface of Reach where he had brought with him gold team, which is a Spartan-II Strike team. The Spartan IIs, while limited in number, were the most powerful of the Spartans because of their Primaris gene-seed. The Spartan-IIIs were powerful in their own right compared to the most Elite soldiers of the Covenant, but the Spartan-IIs were just made to stand above all others.

In total the UNSC had 100k Spartan-IIIs spread across each UNSC branch while the Spartan-IIs totaled only 300. But each of them was worth a hundred of the IIIs, and a thousand Covenant troops.

Once the arrived at the teleporter, Axel and Gold team was teleported to the Command Post on Andesia which was already buzzing with activity. Officers were shouting orders and coordinates; soldiers were arming themselves and preparing for battle.

Already aware of his arrival, Lieutenant General Holland had run over to greet him and saluted, "Sir! We've been eagerly awaiting your arrival."

"General Holland," Axel returned the salute, "What's the status?"

"The Covenant have taken Hill 304 and are advancing towards Sector 6," Reported General Holland, as he pulled up a holographic map of the battlefield. "We have initiated a counter-offensive which is going well, but we are currently outnumbered. The Spartans will tip the balance in our favor."

"Any significant assets?" Axel asked, his eyes scanning some of the map's key points.

"The Covenant has deployed two Scarab platforms in the area. Our initial strikes did minimal damage," Holland said grimly, pointing at two red markers on the map. "They have also deployed multiple Anti-Aircraft gun emplacements."

Axel nodded, "We need to neutralize those threats before we can launch a full-scale offensive," He turned to Gold Team, "Spartans... you know what to do."

The Spartans saluted and with a nod from Axel, they moved out towards the exit, their mission was to take out those Scarabs. The leader of gold team was Senior Chief Petty Officer Joshua-029 an electronics expert, with Chief Petty Officer Daisy-023, First class Petty Officer Naomi-010, and First-Class Petty Officer Grace-093 as members of Gold Team.

As they began their mission, Axel watched them leave before turning his attention towards the map and General Holland. Axel studied the map, his mind running through strategies. The Covenant was smart and strategic; they would have their AA guns scattered and well protected. A frontal assault would result in heavy casualties.

"We'll need a different approach," Axel decided. "We need to take them out from the inside. Do we have any recon teams available for infiltration?"

"We do," Holland affirmed, pulling up personnel data on a side panel of the hologram. "We have a few squads of ODSTs that could do the job,"

"Good," Axel nodded, scanning the data. The Orbital Drop Shock Troopers were some of the toughest fighters the UNSC had at their disposal. If anyone could infiltrate enemy lines undetected and destroy those AA guns, it was them.

"Assign two squads to each AA gun," Axel directed, pointing to the red markers on the map. "Tell them to move under cover of night and strike at dawn."

"Understood," Holland nodded and began issuing orders through his comms.

Turning his attention back to the map and where Gold Team was headed, he traced their path toward one of the massive Scarab platforms. He knew they were more than capable of handling themselves, the Covenant that stood in their path would not pose much of a threat.

A few minutes later, near a Covenant base, Joshua and his team had arrived at their target. They crouched behind a veil of underbrush, observing the Scarab platform as it lumbered through the dense forest on its many legged supports. It was surrounded by Covenant forces who patrolled around it's perimeter.

Joshua gestured silently to Daisy, who readied her sniper rifle, her eyes scanning the scene through the scope.

"Cover me," Joshua said quietly to Naomi and Grace. They nodded in affirmation, moving into position with their energy rifles at the ready.

Joshua darted out from the underbrush, his powerful, augmented legs propelling him towards the Scarab. As he got close to the Covenant base, a burst of energy whizzed past him. Instantly, Daisy's sniper rifle shot an energy shot and an Elite soldier dropped a clean hole through its skull.

Grace and Naomi laid down covering fire and Joshua reached the Scarab. He leaped and grabbed onto one of its many legs, his powerful arms pulling him up onto the massive walking machine. A group of Grunts screeched as they saw him, but a burst of energy from Naomi's energy rifle silenced them while also alerting the other nearby patrols.

Joshua ignored the hollering of the grunts; his focus was solely on reaching the Scarab's control room. He swiftly climbed his way up with ease, while behind him he could hear the energy blasts from Grace and Naomi's rifles continuing to ward off the alerted Covenant.

In a heartbeat, Joshua was on top of the Scarab. His HUD identified two Elites guarding the hatch to the control room. He charged at one of them grabbing the Elite by its throat while he shot the other with his energy pistol.

Without wasting time, he pried open the hatch and descended into the control room. There he was met with a few other Covenant probably the security personnel in charge of protecting the Scarab.

He grabbed his own energy rifle and fired as he moved forward taking out all the Covenant in his path. Seeing a massive, armored human in front of them which was taller than even an Elite, some of the grunts tried to run but ended up getting killed any way.

Entering the control room, Joshua found himself face-to-face with a towering brute Chieftain, the scarred commander of the Scarab. The creature roared, charging at Joshua with a gravity hammer. Just before the gravity hammer hit him, Joshua grabbed it, stopping it midair and then kicked the brute Chieftain in his chest causing him to drop the gravity hammer.

The Brute Chieftain stumbled back, reeling from the unexpected strength of the Spartan. However, it was quick to regain its footing and roared again, charging at Joshua a second time. This time, Joshua sidestepped the oncoming attack, using the brute's momentum against itself and delivering a punch that sent the Chieftain slamming into a control panel.

Disoriented, the Chieftain rose slowly giving Joshua enough time to grab the gravity hammer. With lethal precision, Joshua swung the gravity hammer at the Chieftain. The hammer connected, and the Chieftain was thrown back into another console, slumping to the ground.

Joshua stood over his enemy's lifeless body for a moment before moving to the scarab's controls. With his vast knowledge of electronics and Covenant technology, he quickly manipulated the control panel, initiating the self-destruct sequence.

His task completed, Joshua climbed back out of the hatch and up onto the top of the Scarab. A quick glance at his HUD told him that Daisy, Naomi, and Grace were still holding off the Covenant forces who had been alerted to their presence.

"We've got incoming," Daisy warned through their comms. "Phantoms."

Joshua looked up to see purple clouds of energy glowing in the distance, revealing the arrival of Covenant dropships. "Our objective it complete, let's get out of here" said Joshua as he jumped off the top of the Scarab and joined the rest of Gold team as they started to sprint away.

Once they lost the Covenant that was chasing them, they would head towards the 2nd Scarab to complete their mission.