![]() Forty heavy cruisers at three kilometers apiece. There were fourteen assault carriers, each just under five kilometers long. Successively closer scans performed by more and more slipspace probes had allowed them to build up a better picture of what they would be facing, the higher resolution returns allowing for them to pick apart the massive gravitational signature of the congregated fleet into most individual ships, the results of which were chilling. The twenty-four hour warning that the UNSC had been taking advantage of by marshaling the fleet had also permitted the time to perform additional recon on the approaching fleet. Yet even with those tremendous advantages, Captain Keyes still felt deeply concerned about their chances of victory, and when one looked at the data gathered on the attacking Covenant fleet, it was easy to understand why. Where the ship based MACs would take two or three shots to destroy a shielded Covenant vessel in most cases, the Super MACs on the ODPs should prove sufficient to pierce and destroy any known ship.įurther boosting Humanity's chances, more than a hundred stealthed, nuclear mines littered the path the Covenant would have to take to the battle after they emerged back into real space. Every five seconds they could almost guarantee a kill on any enemy ship, more than any vessel in the fleet could boast for sure. Thus everything would depend on the Orbital Defense Platforms. Here they only had an advantage of about fifty percent with the UNSC's four hundred and sixty-nine ships to the Covenant's three hundred and fourteen. It was considered even odds when the UNSC outnumbered the Covenant by three to one. The two others waited further away, ready to interpose themselves between the Covenant plasma and the orbital guns. Finally, even further out were the corvettes, manned by nothing more than volunteers and all ready to throw themselves in front of the Covenant fire.Īnd silently, above each battle group hung the enormous form of a repair and refit platform, each of them prepared to be used as sacrificial shields in the coming slaughter. ![]() Frigates were clustered into small packs, ready to intercept any single-ships that were launched towards the fleet. The destroyers grouped around the cruisers, forming a powerful defensive perimeter to ensure the survival of the larger vessels. Carriers sat further to the back, their lighter armor and cruiser caliber MACs necessitating a more distant presence in the battle to come. There could be no mistakes here, Humanity could not afford it.Ĭruisers formed the core of each group, hardened spear points ready to fight until the last moment. ![]() There were nine Marathon heavy cruisers, sixteen Athens light carriers, a hundred and thirty-seven Paris heavy frigates, twenty-two Charon light frigates, fifty-seven Stalwart light frigates, eighteen Gorgon Heavy destroyers, twenty-nine Hillsborough destroyers, thirty Halberd destroyers, six in modified Halcyon light cruisers, two Epoch heavy carriers, four Orion carriers, five Cradle repair and refit platforms, a single Valiant super-heavy cruiser -the Valiant-, the Super-carrier Trafalgar, one hundred and thirty Mako corvettes, and finally two modified Halcyon light cruisers the Dawn Under Heaven and the Pillar of Autumn.Īll of these ships were congregated at the Lagrange One point, portioned out into three battle groups and then numerous smaller flotillas with clear lines established to avoid friendly fire. So as he chewed briefly on the stem of his pipe, Captain Jacob Keyes looked over the greatest concentration of human firepower in all of recorded human history with a feeling of trepidation. =||=||=||=||=||=||=||=||=||=||=||=||=Įver since the UNSC had received a warning from their slipspace monitoring station Fermion twenty-four hours previously, warships had been streaming into the Epsilon Eridani system from every nearby sector to aid in the defense of Reach. Extra thanks to Soyuz-Fregat for his beta'ing. Remember when I said the battle would start on Friday? I lied, it starts now. ![]()
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