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2015/08/08 14:35:25
Subject: Halo: Fleet Battles - The Fall of Reach - Campaign mission 1, UNSC Perspective
I have a traditional battle report, but in the spoilers I've written a short story to try and capture the theme that Spartan Games set in this (the first campaign mission in the Fall of Reach book).
Spoiler:
“Engage forward thrusters, proceed at half impulse.” Omar said with a voice conveying more confidence than he felt.
“Aye, sir. Forward thrusters engaged, proceeding at half impulse.” Responded the navigation helmsman.
Omar checked the Battlenet table, where the holographic outline of his two battlegroups were displayed. At the fore, a trio of Paris Class Frigates moved in a refined arrowhead formation, perfectly paced with his commanding Flagship, the UNSC Yesterday’s News. Behind them, three elements, each comprised of a triplet of Paris Class Frigates, advanced in Trident formation. The rear Frigate in the left most element was gaining noticeably on the two ships leading the formation. “UNSC Stone Mason, this is acting Lieutenant Omar; slow your approach vector, you’re coming in too fast.” Bloody Ensign Derrick, Omar thought to himself. Robinson had already warned him twice about his rashness, this will get him disciplined. The UNSC didn’t look kindly on rashness, especially not when it was by an ensign at the command of a hugely expensive warship.
Obediently, small blue lights appeared on the fore of the Frigate, indicating in real time the ships response to the order. We’re almost clear of the debris field. I wonder what Robinson will throw at us next, Omar silently pondered. As part of their preparation, the cadets of the Beta Eridani Naval Training Range were required to forego the simulation rooms and take part in live tactical exercises against a range of simulated foes, in an even greater range of environments, before their final assignment into the Navy.
“Lieutenant!” called the Signals Officer, “Covenant ships have entered sensor range. Approaching from vector 0239. Damn, Lieutenant Robinson has programed them to appear right behind us. Our scanners should have detected them minutes before this, he must be simulating the debris causing interference, maybe I can use that to our advantage. “Battlegroup Beta, change course to starboard, swing around and bring weapon systems online, I want MACs up five minutes ago.” Omar barked across the secured comms channel, before turning to face the helmsman to his left, “Cadet Xi, about face, port side.” Omar continued, before returning his attention to the Battlenet, noticing that the Arrowhead formation had adjusted course with his Marathon Cruiser with ease. He felt a sense of pride for his fellow cadets, at least Battlegroup Alpha would be found combat ready.
The UNSC prepares to flee, having been caught unaware by the Covenant.
Deployment: In this scenario, the UNSC must deploy facing the same way as the Covenant in a 6 by 6 inch square. The Covenant deploy ready to attack in a 24 by 10 inch rectangle.
Spoiler:
“Lieutenant, priority message from the observation deck.” The comms officer said, “patching it through now.”
The face of Lieutenant Robinson, who was running, appeared on the viewport of the Bridge, he did not pause before beginning, “Belay those orders, Ensign Omar. Send all personnel to battle stations, and have Alpha and Beta break hard to port; this is not a simulation.” Omar paused for a moment, weighing up what he had heard. He was wondering whether Robinson was trying to add a layer of realism when Robinson, seeing his hesitation, broke composure and yelled, “Now, ensign! This is not a drill, get your men to battle stations or see them dead!” The yelling did its job, Omar moved rapidly, and immediately began marshalling the troops and crew...
Turn 1: The Covenant start with initiative in this scenario and advance on the rear of the UNSC, preparing their firing solutions. The CCS Battlecruiser targets the the right most Paris Element from the rear Battlegroup with its plasma lance, destroying it outright. Corvettes target the middle Element with their cannons, combining fire with the CCS's secondary armament, heavily damaging the Paris Frigates but not applying a vulnerable marker. Torpedoes targeted the final element, but its point defence system prevented any from reaching its hull.
Spoiler:
In the few moments it took Lieutenant Robinson to arrive on the bridge, both Alpha and Beta had cleared the debris fields. He was panting, and his lungs shot with pain from over exertion; he was not a runner. Sweat gave his bloodless face a pale sheen that sent cadets that sighted him into overdrive. The B-Net showed a CCS cruiser and two pairs of SDV Corvettes advancing in line formation. They were coming up fast, and with experienced and battle hardened men they might, might, stand a change, but with cadets...
He had seen enough battles to know that even outnumbering the Covenant two and a half to one was not good odds; not by a long shot. If they could make it t-
The B-Net showed a brilliant flash of purple, interrupting his thought, digitally representing the brilliant beam of a lance of plasma as the CCS Battlecruiser opened fire into an element Trident of Paris Frigates. Even through the debris field, the plasma found its mark, scorching metal and buckling plates in an eerily beautiful display. Hundreds of crewmen died as the lance pierced a vital system, the ruptured hull haemorrhaging oxygen and nitrogen gases into the freezing void, precious moments before the airlock could engage.
There was nothing he could do for them, he turned his attention to the other elements only to see a wave of plasma torpedoes and volley of plasma cannon shots seeking the two remaining Tridents in battlegroup Beta. The point defence system of one of the Tridents managed to shoot down the incoming torpedoes, but the second element was not so lucky, cannon fire crashing into their aft and rending entire sections off their hulls, tearing metal off in a spray of orange, fiery fury. “Damn!” he cursed, furiously beating his fist once onto the screen in display of rage, audibly fracturing the lower digits. He raised his right hand and nursed it with his uninjured left hand. The second element was operational, but barely, they had not lost critical systems but even so, they were teetering on the precipice of destruction.
The UNSC's first activation saw the Marathon Heavy Cruiser and its accompanying Arrowhead formation of frigates attempt to move to port, firing pot luck Archer Missiles but to no avail.
Spoiler:
Both battlegroups swung to port as rapidly as they could, hoping to hinder the Covenant’s advance through the debris field and try and buy some time to escape to slipspace. “Sir, the life pods just launched from the Stone Mason, receiving transmission, shall I put it on display?” the ensign asked. Robinson nodded assent, and an image of Ensign Derrick appeared, in the background sparks and flames danced across the bridge, the mayhem occasionally distorting the clarity of the message. The ensign broke doctrine and spoke first, “We’ve launched what was left of the life pods. Most of the crew are dead. We’ve lost access to the rest of the pods, doesn’t look like you’ll be getting a chance to fail me for poor hazard negotiation, sir.” He said with a half-smile as blood trickled down a deep gash on his right temple. Robinson couldn’t help but smile at that. They both knew what came next. “No, it doesn’t look like I will.” He said simply, not wanting to say what was playing across both their minds. A brief silence ensued, which to their adrenaline slowed perception of time, felt like an age. Ensign Derrick was the one to break it, “Sir?” he asked.
“Do it.” Robinson said quietly, filled with a pain that had absolutely nothing to do with his hand.
“Aye.” Derrick responded, turning his attention to the remnants of the bridge, speaking with a voice of command, he said “Initiate Emergency Priority Order 098831A-1.”
“Ensign, you would have made a fine Captain one day. I’m sorry.” Robinson said, saluting the screen before cutting the transmission. Seconds later, in accordance with the Cole Protocol, Emergency Priority Order 098831A-1, the UNSC Stone Mason detonated, taking the rest of the husks of the element with it.
“Fire at will.” He ordered, not having the luxury to mourn the fallen, watching several Frigates’ firing solutions of Archer Missiles weaving their way towards the Covenant battlegroup. Most were shot down in transit, the few that hit their mark were woefully inadequate to breach the Covenant’s shielding, amounting to little more than bright light in the distance. Desperate to make a jump to slipspace, the UNSC ships made their way to the rendezvous point for the FTL jump.
The UNSC's second activation in turn 1 saw the damaged ships of battlegroup Beta trying to match course with Alpha. Their extra speed allowing them to gain slightly as well. They too fired Archer missiles at the Corvettes, this time managing to breach the covenant point defence and defence array, but the missiles smashed harmless into the hull, failing to damage the vessel more than superficially and not inflicting any damage.
Spoiler:
The Covenant CCS fired again, this time targeting the Marathon Cruiser with its lance and cannons. The ship shook violently as its outer plates of Titanium armour shielded them valiantly from the blow, which would have destroyed them otherwise. Warning sirens began screeching mercilessly, and the lights dimmed as power was rerouted to the aft airlocks. Several critical systems had been thrown into chaos by the blast, the most pressing of which was the artificial gravity, “Get engineers to Life Support, now!” Robinson yelled to Omar, who dutifully responded. He appraised the blow, critical damage to significant sections of the ship, several levels locked down and another volley to shortly follow. Yesterday’s News was on its last legs, and he knew it. A quick glance at the B-Net caused a wave of guilt to well over him. In the heat of the moment, while he had been focusing on the damage caused in his own ship he had diverted his attention from his accompanying Arrowhead formation, which had been completely destroyed during the same impact. It was too much. The UNSC Ashen Field, Gorgon's Head and the Optimistic Pessimist... Hundreds more cadets, dead in an instant; many still in their teens. By the location of their remains, it looks like they tried to obstruct the firing line with their hulls, taking the brunt of the Corvettes attacks and sparing the Cruiser.
Turn 2 saw the Covenant win priority. The Corvettes opened fire into the Arrowhead formation, destroying them all. The CCS fired its lance and cannons into the Marathon cruiser, taking down two of its damage tracks and applying a vulnerable marker, due to the CCS's firing solution falling into the rear arc. With the UNSC activation, it was apparent that the Marathon cruiser, on its last damage track and unsupported, was not going to make it to the board edge, which was still two long activations away. Instead, the Paris frigates were activated, who (thanks to their massive move) were able to clear the board edge to safety. In the UNSC's second activation, the Marathon Cruiser made full speed for the same edge, and hoped for a miracle.
A miracle that was not to come. The Covenant once again won priority, for a third turn, and, after moving up, unleashed everything into the Marathon Cruiser, destroying it a mere 2 inches from the board edge, resulting in a decisive victory to the Covenant with 5 BR of UNSC ships destroyed, and the UNSC with 2 BR of elements having escaped.
Their sacrifice was in vain though, for although Engineers had worked like men possessed and restored systems, the Archer Missiles could not get a lock on the Covenant vessels while they were directly behind them. The Marathon Cruiser had barely moved when the next volley came in, finding ripe targets in the many sections where the plating had been irreparably degraded during the last barrage. In a baptism of plasma and fire, Yesterday’s News was crippled beyond repair. Robinson attempted to pick himself off up the ground and failed as his right arm folded in pain. He looked at his broken fist, when did that happen?. He tried to get up again, this time using his left arm to hoist himself up. As he stood, he felt someone help him up. Omar. He noticed his side was bleeding and his hands were shaking. He coughed onto the Battlenet, his red blood turning purple on the blue screen. He looked up and saw that Omar was talking to him, but his ears were still ringing and he couldn’t hear what he was saying. He fell again, this time from blood loss. “Omar!” he yelled “Omar!” it was a few minutes before Omar appeared kneeling beside him. Robinson gripped Omar’s hands tightly, no longer feeling any pain, and talked between gargles of blood, “The... Cole... Protocol?”
Omar nodded.
“Others... make... it?”
Omar nodded.
And with that, Yesterday’s News tore itself into atomic pieces; with two battered and blood Paris Class Frigate Elements all that remained of the Beta Eridani Naval Training Range’s 2550 UNSC cadet program.
This message was edited 3 times. Last update was at 2015/08/09 03:05:11
The contents of this document are protected by the Official Secrets Act of 2550
Have you been putting videos up on Youtube? I am sure I recognise that table?
3000 Points - Right Hands of the Emperor, Imperial Fists Successor
1000 Points - Right Hands of the Emperor Elite PDF force
Bolt Action 1500 pts US Army
Bolt Action 1000 pts US Airborne
X Wing - Giant rebel fleet
Halo Fleet Battles - 1000 pt UNSC Force, 1000 pt Covenant Force
3000 Points - Right Hands of the Emperor, Imperial Fists Successor
1000 Points - Right Hands of the Emperor Elite PDF force
