The Other Side of the Mirror

Earth, 2552AD

"Oh God, oh God…."

The battle for Earth was going well enough until the explosion of the UNSC Marathon-class Cruiser Bridge to Thermopylae brought everyone's attention to the view ports. Well merely for those who were not already incapacitated already from wounds and worse. Still, no one could ignore the shudder that vibrated through the Ardent Blade as she bore witness to the Thermopylae's destruction. The Battle for Earth was in midway and everyone had to at least pretend to look desperate in a situation like this. Considering a victory ratio between any UNSC naval force to their Covenant counterpart to be at least 3:1 in favourable conditions (which may vary), it was an emotion very hard to fake at the moment.

"Bridge! I wanted status five minutes ago!" barked Commander Dante as he paced the bridge of his UNSC frigate, the Blade restlessly as the ship remained at standby to engage the Covenant fleet. It was a small ship and despite Commander Dante's faith in the competency of his crew and marines, there was no way they can take on an entire Covenant assault carrier alone and survive.

"Skip! I think you gotta see this…," announced the first mate as he looked through the main view port.

"What is it? More bad news?" asked Dante as he made his way beside the first mate. Sweat was already beading on his forehead as he anticipated the reason for the call.

"Not really Skip. Look!" pointed the first mate excitedly at the alien vessel.

Commander Dante could scarcely make out a small speck flying out of what seemed to be the ship's reactor. A few seconds later, plumes of purplish explosions dotted the Covenant carrier as its reactor set off a chain reaction, destroying the vessel from within.

The bridge came alive as the crew gave cheers of joy and relief at the small victory. Even the loss of one Covenant ship was a welcome change from the news they usually receive. Furthermore, the morale boost kind of help too.

"Relay the images all over the Dawn. Everyone should see this," said Commander Dante with a small smile to the first mate. "Any idea what caused the 'splosion?"

"I'm not too sure skip. No UNSC vessels were engaging it. Even the Thermopylae didn't really fight. It was like she was getting in the way of the plasma torpedo. Like she was shielding something…"

"Well, I heard those armour the Spartans wear can survive in space. You don't think a certain Spartan decided to have a little space walk do ya?" asked Commander Dante half-jokingly to his first mate, remembering the speck he saw.

"Probably, skip," replied the first mate.