Special thanks to Dragonknigthtryu and Patriot-112 on this fic.
"Talking"
"Radio"
'Thinking'
Prolog: Discovery
1.5 BBY
Location: Somewhere in Hyperspace
Onboard the Keldabe-Class Battleship Redemption
"How much longer until we reach the patrol's location?" asked a figure who sat on the Captain's chair of the ship, a man who looked to be in his 20 or 30's stood at 6'3" with short militaristic brown hair, had an odd pair of eyes, the left was jade green with golden flecks while the right was gold with green flecks and had a trio of scars running over the eye. He wore what looked like green/red trimmed Mandalorian Shock-Trooper Armor, only it was worn under a Jedi tunic and cloak that were missing their sleeves revealing his toned muscles and a pair of Beskar armguards.
"It should only be a few more minutes, Mand'alor." Said one of the officers on the bride. "The scout fleet said this was something that we had to see with our own eyes, and if Captain Reeves' reputation is anything to go by, it has to be something big."
"I know that." The man, Ryu Hisanaga, also known as 'Mandalore the Redeemer' said. "I trust the Captain's judgment, Ensign. But even I have to be cautious seeing how he said the area we are going into is in Wild Space."
"Well, if his ships managed to get there with no problem, ours shouldn't either." A new voice said, and Ryu turned around to see a beautiful Human Female looking to be about as old as he was, standing at 5'10 with Shoulder length Red hair tied into a pony tail, and violet eyes. She wore form-fitting Mandalorian Shock-Trooper Armor that was white with red trimming with a black shoulder cape (like Boba Fett's). She was armed simply with a single Vibrosword on her back, and a pair of WESTAR-34 Blaster Pistols in their holsters.
"That may be Calista." Ryu said. "But I can't shake the feeling that something's gonna happen. The Force has been acting very strangely ever since I got that transmission from Reeves."
"Ah, we'll be fine, Ryu." Calista Hisanaga said, smiling. "We've got a fleet of our Keldabe-Class, three Venator-classes, and Six Acclamator-classes. Not to mention the Dreadnaught-class, Interceptor-class, Victory-I Class, and the three Crusader-class ships that Captain Reeves has under his command. I'm sure we can handle whatever it is he found."
Ryu merely raised an eyebrow as he looked at his wife "Hi, I don't believe we've met, I'm Ryu Hisanaga, Murphy's Bitch." He said with sarcastic cheerfulness "Think about it Cast, knowing our luck we're about to come across some genocidal alien race that makes the Empire's tactics look like child's play."
"Way to jinx the whole fleet, Master." A third voice said, this one coming from another female looking a bit younger that the other two, with shoulder length rust red hair that framed hard gray eyes, and wore a nondescript sleeveless tunic and pants but had put an violet colored armored vest over top completing the outfit was a pair of fingerless gloves and a single hilt like object at her waist.
"Ya, ya." Ryu said, waving it off. "Anyways, anything new from base since we left Scout?"
Scout nodded. "I got got word that Jade and Trip's fleet just got back from their coordinated attack with the Rebels against the Imperial research lab's on Fresia." She said. "The Reb's hijacked a bunch of those Prototype X-Wing Starfighters, and are likely gonna begin Mass Production of them soon. Jade managed to get a few spec's for ourselves, along with an extra X-Wing the Rebel's left behind."
"And Casualties?" Ryu asked.
"Other than a few bomber's getting show down, and some wounded on the ground, casualties were light on both our side and the Rebel's." Scout said before grinning. "But if you're talking about the Empire's losses...let's just say there is no base now."
Ryu just shook his head, chuckling lightly. "Should have guessed that would happen." He commented. "Then again, they aren't the Hades Corp for nothing."
"Right, anyways after being sure they lost the Imperial's, they recently made it back to our base at Lehon." Scout continued. "They got word that we launched to see what the Captain discovered, and offered that if we need any help, they'll be on stand-by on the Hyperspace Route, ready to jump with their fleet."
"Well, It's nice to see they care." Calista said. "Though I doubt we're gonna need 'em."
"You never know, Cast." Ryu said. "But, its good to have some back-up regardless."
"Sir, we're about to drop out of hyperspace." The Ensign said.
"Ah, finally." Ryu said. "Once we exit hyperspace locate the Captain's forces. And Scout, send a message to the Hades Corps saying we'll contact them if we need help." Scout nodded as she moved to the communications station to send the message.
"Exiting Hyperspace in 3...2...1...now." The ensign said, and soon the Keldabe-Class Battleship, along with Three Venator-Class Star Destroyers, and six Acclamator-Class Assault Ships dropped out of hyperspace, and before them appeared a Planet...A planet that looked like it's seen better days.
"What in the hell?" Ryu shouted as he bolted up from his seat at the sight, eyes wide as were Calista's, Scout's, and the rest of the crews of the 10 ships of the Mandalore's fleet. The Planet's surface...it looked as if it was burning. It looked as if 2/3rds of the Planet was on fire, burning with clouds of fire, and the ocean's burned dry. What little of the Planet that didn't look burnt were the 1/3rd of the Planet that looked covered in ice. In orbit of the planet looked to be the ruined hulks of hundreds of ships, some looking to be made one way, while fewer looked much more... Alien.
"What...what the hell happened here?" Ryu muttered, not believing his eyes. He had seen many war-torn planets, but he has never seen such destruction like this.
"A-According to scans sir..." Said the officer at the sensors. "It would...be most likely that a large number of ships bombarded the planet from orbit with weapons rivaling the power behind Nuclear Weaponry...and it looks like they did it to most of the Planet. The Ice is the result of a Nuclear Winter effect after the bombardment."
"Sir, I have visual on Reeve's fleet." The Ensign said. "Their just outside of the Debris Field." Ryu looked, and sure enough, a small fleet of 6 ships, one Victory I-Class Star Destroyer, one Interceptor-Class Frigate, one Dreadnaught-Class heavy cruiser, and three Crusader-Class Corvettes were in a standard holding pattern.
"Receiving a transmission from Captain Reeves' ship the Indomitable." The ensign said. "Patching it through." In front of the Mandalore, his wife and apprentice, the holographic image of a young male with brown hair and eyes, and wearing an old Republic captain uniform.
"Mand'alore, It's good to see you made it." Captain Tacjo Reeves said. "Can you see why I needed you to see this yourself?"
"Yes...I have." Ryu said calmly. "What happened here?"
"Well, we sent some team's into the destroyed ships in the debris field, and we already sent in a small force to the ground." Reeves said before sighing. "I think it may be best if we discussed this face-to-face Mand'alore sir."
"I agree." Ryu said. "I'll head over too the Indomitablenow. See you soon, Captain. But, I must ask, do you have any clue as to the name of this Planet?"
The Captain nodded. "From what we've gathered from the ship's memory banks thus far, which is very little by the way, we believe the Planet was called...Harvest by the natives, sir."
Ryu nodded. "Alright, be with you in a minute." he said before giving the respective Mandalorian salute, which the Captain returned before his image dissipated.
Ryu then turned too his two friends. "Calista, Scout, you're with me." he said, and they nodded as they left the bridge, and headed for the hanger.
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Meanwhile
UNSC Phoenix-Class Colony Ship: Spirit of fire
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"Captain, wake up. Something has happened."
Hesitantly, Captain James Cutter forced his eyes open. Overwhelming light stabbed into his aging eyes and he was sure tears would form under his gray eyebrows. His cryo-pod cracked open with a hiss, the burning sensation over his covered torso nearly crippling him. He failed to maintain his balance and he dropped to the grated floor. Heaving a chilling breath, he exhaled with a hacking cough, racking his body with even more pain.
His mind tried to catch up with his present state. The Captain had been quick-thawed only once before, and he knew the only reason for such a risky procedure was dire circumstances. And if they were indeed dire, then as captain of the Spirit of Fire, he was needed to be fully functional.
He rolled onto his rear and cleared the moisture from his face with a brush of his hand. He shielded his eyes till they were partially adjusted to the Cryo Room's overhead glowpanels. He coughed a few more times before looking up at a small pedestal stationed at the very end of the chamber. James was expecting to see the glowing avatar of Serina, the ship's on board AI, but the pedestal remained dark.
Nevertheless, Serina's voice echoed though the speaker system. "Captain, I need you on the bridge."
James frowned to himself. Since when did I take orders from an AI? He shook the mildly amusing thought from his mind and lifted himself up off the floor, clutching his own pod for balance. "Give me a minute." He let a quick dizziness spell evaporate before his eyes and started for the exit. James found his locker and quickly got dressed. It would be highly improper for a UNSC Captain to go strutting around the deck wearing nothing more than a body suit.
Placing his trusty cap on his head, James paused in front of the locker's small mirror. His mind was racing with random thoughts, even distracting so-called priorities of dressing one's self, and his gut began to grow cold with worry that any more delay could ultimately effect the Spirit of Fire in the most negative way. He nodded to his reflection and slammed the door shut.
James exited the Cryo Room, taking note that there were no other crew members up and about, and walked down the short foyer that lead to a long hallway. He passed Cryo Rooms Two and One, and he stopped short when he noticed the empty lockers outnumbering the occupied ones, situated along the wall. James sighed as he placed a hand over an opened locker door and shut it quietly. On its exterior, the paint had been chipped and scarred from too many times when the owner had hurried off to battle. The worn identifying label was still attached: Pvt. Gregory Aiken. Cutter didn't recognize the name, and he wondered at what point the marine had sacrificed his life in service to the UNSC. Was it on Arcadia, or possibly on that God-forsaken shield world?
He didn't have the answer, but the memories of those engagements were still vividly entrenched in his mind. His priorities since taking back Harvest had changed suddenly and drastically after discovering the Covenant had found and unlocked an ancient star map deep inside the polar regions. Professor Ellen Anders was able to access the map, albeit briefly, and it led them to Arcadia, the doctor's own homeworld. Cutter pivoted on his right foot and leaned back against the locker's cool metal surface. When we got there, the Covies were just slaughtering innocent civilians. He felt his hands tighten into fists so he forced them open. We saved as many as we could that day.
The Covenant had found something of importance on Arcadia, and after a long battle, Anders and Sgt. John Forge were able to search the devastated area for clues of the enemy's plans. Only Anders was captured and we had to follow her transponder. A security breach like that could have ended the war right then and there. But what Cutter or Serina couldn't anticipate was arriving at an uncharted system. Only it wasn't just another transit stop, but a shell of a world. A shield world, if you will. There they not only encountered a Covenant presence but a new lifeform Serina had classified as parasitic in nature. Had Private Aiken succumbed to the ill affects of this infection? Sadly, James knew that of all the possible ways to die on the battlefield, that would have been the worst.
Following Anders' signal brought them to the inside of the planetoid where the Spirit of Fire clashed briefly with the Covenant ship that led them there. Taking a lot of damage, they were able to achieve some hasty field repairs before clearing the engagement. Miraculously, Professor Anders had escaped her captivity and Sgt. Forge helped her get back to the ship. While he was able to lead the ground forces in establishing a beachhead on the surface, Anders relayed her findings that the Covenant had unlocked an ancient armada of highly advanced ships and were planning to instigate them into their own fleet.
James pushed himself off the locker and started walking again. He wondered why he didn't dream of any of this while in cryo sleep, but he figured it was for the best. Without Sgt. Forge's sacrifice of personally detonating the Spirit of Fire's FTL drive at the shield world's core, the Covenant could have wiped Humanity off the galactic map in a matter of years with that technology. Sacrifice, James thought to himself. If there were one word that could sum up the actions of the brave men and women who have fought with the Spirit of Fire, it would be sacrifice. Pursing his lips, he shook his head and tried to reorient to his current situation. Get your mind right, Cutter.
His brisk amble down the empty corridors was short lived when he turned it into a flat out sprint. Slightly annoyed at Serina's vague "something has happened" statement, his mind wanted to fill the void with his own speculations. Could we have reached a UNSC outpost already? Did something go wrong in Medical? Have one of the Cryo Rooms malfunctioned? Either way, he would know soon enough.
The bridge door hissed open just as James Cutter stomped his pace down to a fast walk. Catching his breath took longer than he had expected, but he did breathe a deep sigh of relief at seeing Serina's holoform glowing at the central tactical display. He knew she was coming up on the end of her expected lifespan, but as for now, she appeared her usual, bland self. "Serina, status."
She pivoted in place, turning to face him. "Sir, are you alright?"
"Just a little winded," he said, finally able to get his breathing under control as he chewed on the inside of his cheek. "How long has it been since our departure?"
"15 Years, two Months, five days." The Captain gave the Shipboard A.I an unbelieving look. "Over 15 Years?" He asked for confirmation, and the A.I nodded. "Yes sir...and your not going to believe where we are. According to scans...we are just a short distance away from Harvest."
The Captain slumped down into his captain's chair. "Harvest...where it all began..." he muttered.
"But that's not the strange part." Serina continued. "When I made a scan for any UNSC signals, though I found none...I just discovered a fleet of unknown ships over the planet."
"Covenant?" The captain said, instantly going into captain mode.
"No sir," the A.I reassured. "I am counting exactly 16 ships over the planet, none of which seem to be made out of the same material any known Covenant ship has been made out of. Their sizes range from around a few hundred Meters, up to ships almost as large as a Covenant CCS-Class Battlecruiser."
"Have they detected us yet?" The Captain asked.
"No, they have not taken any actions which suggest they have, sir." Serina said. "And I just detected a small ship launching to what I guess is the flagship of the fleet, and is moving towards one of the smaller dagger-shaped ships." She then displayed the fleet on the forward view screen, and sure enough, a single shuttle-sized ship departed from the largest of the ships, and was heading towards one of the smaller dagger-shaped ships, the one with two 'domes' on top of what the captain made the guess was the ship's bridge.
"What should we do sir?" Serina asked. The captain thought about his options. The Spirit of fire was not made for ship-to-ship interceptions, dispite being armed with the weapons to do so for defensive purposes. She was a support ship for all intents and purposes despite them being a bit larger than most of the ships. James was not about to endanger the lives of his crew after everything they've been through.
"We'll keep our eye on them for now." The captain said, as he narrowed his eyes. "Have Cryo Rooms One, Two, and Four queue for a quick thaw. And wake the Professor and Red Team. We might need their help on this one."
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Meanwhile
Planet: Harvest
Surface
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Clone Commander CC-0317, better known as 'Zack' by his friends watched as he stood in the middle of the recently discovered base they uncovered. He was wearing White/Yellow trimmed Mandalorian Shock Trooper armor, and was armed with a DC-15S Blaster, and a pair of DC-17 hand blasters.
The base they found seemed old, and very run down. But thanks too their engineers they managed to bring back some life into the old base, turning on the power generators and getting some lights turned on. Currently there was a grand total of 1,145 Soldiers, most were Mandalorians, Former Republic Clones, or some of the newer clone's that the Kaminonian's who escaped from Kamino created after siding with them.
Zack was one of the Clone's who fought in the Clone Wars nearly 16 years ago. He was trained to fight for the Republic, as were his men. However when Order 66 was issued out, he was hesitant to follow this order, feeling a 'sixth sense' you could call it. This was further proven when Chancellor Palpatine reorganized the Republic into the first Galactic Empire. Zack afterwords managed to convince his men that their loyalties lied with the Republic, not the Empire. Since that day, they at first worked at the Skirata settlement in Kyrimorut on Mandalore, however when the Empire invaded Mandalore, the Kyrimorut Clones, Mandalorians, and even Jedi Refugee's were forced to flee again. This time, however, when they fled they found themselves evacuating with the infamous Mandalorian PMC Ne'tra Kad (Black Sword), as well as the 247th 'Hades' Mobile Assault Corps who also defected like they did. They eventually found themselves at the long-forgotten world of Lehon, where they made a new home there, and have been fighting the Empire ever since.
Now, he found himself and the men now under his command, seeing what was in the abandoned base witch the technicians have confirmed to be formerly called 'Alpha Base' by its previous owners.
"Commander Zack!" Zack turned around to see one of the Clone Engineers sent to inspect the base for any armories or such running up to him. The Engineer was wearing Phase-I Clone armor, instead of the Phase-II. The reason why was because the Phase-II armor series was far too much like the current Stormtrooper armor that the Imperial Forces use now. So in order to keep confusion to a low, many Clone Troopers who defected switched to using either A) Phase-I Series Clone Armor. Or B) Mandalorian Shock Trooper armor. However the new Phase-I armor had all of the abilities the Phase-II armor had, only in order to further differentiate from the original Phase-I, the new Phase-I armor, or as it is being called by the Clones as Phase-III armor, it had built-in energy shields that can withstand a limited amount of blaster fire (AN: Its pretty much like KOTOR Personal Energy Shields), Most Phase-III armor were colored steel gray by default instead of pure white, however there is still the Command color system (Green=Sergeant, Blue=Lieutenant, Red=Captain, Yellow=Commander), the different armor and colors definitely help separate Stormtroopers, from New Clone Troopers.
"Yes, what is it Sparks?" Zack asked the Engineer. The Engineer, 'Sparks' stopped in front of him. "My team managed to uncover what we think is the armory of the base." he reported. "It's loaded with weapons sir."
"And?" Zack said, wanting him to continue. "What kind of weapons are we talking about?"
"Slugthrowers, sir." Sparks said, and the Clone Commander gave him a disbelieving look. "But...their not like any Slugthrowers I, or anyone from the team has ever seen before."
"What do you mean?" Zack asked. "Well sir, these new Slugthrowers seem to be built not to just spray ammo everywhere, but their are also different ammo variants from what we've uncovered, and they pack quite a punch. Way better than any Slugger from home. Some of us managed to test-fire a few of them in what we guessed was a firing range, and from our test-firing, we all came to the same conclusion." he grinned in his helmet. "If we had to pick any Slugthrower in the galaxy to fight the empire, we'd definitely stick with one of the ones found here."
"Impressive." Zack said. "Be sure to grab a few when we return too the Indomitable. I also just got word that Mandalore's personal fleet just arrived in system."
"Seriously?" Sparks said, surprised. "Mandalore the Redeemer's here?"
"Yes, he is." Zack said, but before their conversation could continue, another Clone arrived. "Sir, we...may have a problem." he said. "CT-0421's Patrol party never called back in after they went out on a Scouting mission."
"How long has it been since their last transmission?" Zack said, worried for his fellow Clones.
"thirty minutes, sir." The Clone said. "He was suppose to check in 15 intervals."
"Alright, then." Zack said, going into full commander mode. "Send in a search party for 'em. Take a few Speeder Bike teams and search for 'em in the area they were sent to scout. Also, make sure our defensive are at 100% still...I got a bad feeling about this."
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Just Outside the base
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Just outside of the base's perimeter, on the ledge of a small hill, a pair of shadowy figures watched as the unknown figures secured and restored life to the old human base.
"Are they Humans?" Asked one of the figures, an Alien standing at 8'4 with an odd head with four separate mandibles attached to its face, and massive fingers and feet. He wore an Alien Blue armor.
"Yes, definitely Human's." said another alien of the same species, only wearing Red armor. "Filth...What are they doing back here?"
"Maybe they wish to reclaim this Planet once again?" The Blue Alien said.
"Maybe...but why is their armor different?" The Red alien said. "It looks nothing like their 'Marine' body suits...and looks more similar too the armor those accursed Demon's wore, but smaller. But they are definitely not Demons..."
"How shall we proceed?" The Blue alien asked. "Our ambush party that attacked their patrol are almost done."
"Alert the Fleetmaster of the new enemy fleet over the Planet, and we shall prepare to attack their base." The Red one said as he and the blue one stood up. "This time, we will forever cast these filthy vermin off of this planet...in the name of the Holy Covenant, and of the Forerunners."
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Meanwhile
UNSC Spirit of Fire
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Professor Ellen Anders wiped the last lingering bit of tiredness from her eyes and straightened up when the lift doors chimed open. She walked into the small personnel lift and pressed the button for the Bridge, closing the doors.
Once she was released from her cryo-pod, Anders had raced to her lab down on the observation deck only to find most of her equipment on a hard restart. She knew her things were safe from other crewmembers meddling with the delicate artifacts, but it didn't rule out Serina poking her head in and turning off Ellen's computer gear. She had silently cursed the AI, knowing full well that Serina would just as soon wipe all of Ellen's recent findings just to spite her, let alone use some rant about shutting off the power to unused decks as justification.
The doors chime again, this time opening up to a fully lit corridor and other crewmembers in a state of self-collection. Anders let a smile tug at the corner of her mouth. She had always prided herself in combating the ill effects of cryo-sleep. She was even able to adapt her own cryo-pod to apply a thin layer of specialized coating to limit the itchiness and discomfort prone to one who wore clothing during the flash-freezing. It most likely was illegal to tamper with UNSC surplus, but the Captain had never voiced his concerns to her.
She moved quickly now, abandoning her hold on her white lab coat, and started for the bridge. She kept her pace somewhere between a trot and a fast walk. It wouldn't do her any good to look foolish in front of others, for that matter. The crisp sound of synced footsteps turned her head partway around.
"Excuse us, Ma'am."
It was the trio of Spartans that marched past, and Ellen mentally kicked herself for not picking up on their orderly gait. They, unlike every other person— save her, appeared fully functional and walked with a purpose. She reckoned they were headed for the bridge as well, providing her with a little more data on the current chain of command. Forge was the leader on the ground, but now . . . Ellen frowned at her recollection. That damn sergeant had to go be a hero and save us all. She let out a sigh. Just when I was starting to like him. Well, if the Spartans were going to head up an assault team, it was fine with her. They had definitely proven themselves time and time again on that shield world.
Up ahead, the bridge doors hissed opened for the three soldiers, the two in back judging the distance so as to clear the doorway with a centimeter to spare on either side. Anders quickened her pace, hoping to make it through the door while it was still ajar.
Nope. It slammed shut and she took a sudden sidestep to avoid activating the sensor to open the door. She was sure the Captain was already filling the Spartans in on what Serina deemed important, but she needed to make her own entrance. Not in an arrogant way, Ellen explained to herself, just so everyone on the bridge knows that I'm as important as the next person. She cringed at her own semi-delusional thoughts and entered the bridge.
And was greeted by the most annoying sound she'd heard since her youth when she was pulled to a local dive and forced to listen to the stuff they called music. But unlike the rhythmic pulse of long ago, the static blaring over the bridge's speaker system seemed almost mathematical, binary. She saw Captain Cutter wave her over towards the tactical display, and noticed that the three Spartans huddled on the nearest edge were studying the display before them. Serina stood on her pedestal, lifted chin and all, and smiled as the Professor took the only available spot around the tactical display.
The static cut off and James Cutter nodded to Anders. "Good to see you're not suffering too badly." His right eyebrow arched up. "Though I didn't expect you to take that long to get here."
Ellen pursed her lips. "I wanted to stop by my lab," she said, mechanically rotating her head to stare at Serina. "But someone already beat me there." She was pleased to see Serina frown, though briefly, and the AI opened her mouth to speak. But Anders cut off any side comment. "It doesn't matter. My equipment needs to have diagnostics run on them anyway." She pointed to the holoform before them. "What's this?"
"This, is Harvest." Serina said, shocking Ellen. "Exactly as we left it 15 years ago. Still mostly glass besides the parts covered in Post-Nuclear winter, and the debris field of UNSC and Covenant ships still orbiting the planet. The only difference now...is that fleet of 16 Unidentified ships in orbit. They match no Covenant or UNSC construction patterns."
Anders looked at the fleet of ships on the display. Just by looking at them, she could already make an accurate guess that they were Warships of some kind due to most of them having a Dagger-shaped hull's with the exception of a few of the smaller ships. "What do we know about them so far?" she asked.
"Virtually, nothing." Serina said. "We're too far for me to attempt a hack against their systems, and we don't know how far exactly their sensor range goes. As far as we know, it could either be just a few meters ahead of us, it could be very short ranged, or we're already in sensor range and their just ignoring us."
"And I don't want to disrupt a very possible first contact scenario with an attack on their Computers...wouldn't be the most...kind way of saying hello." James said.
"Yes, we definitely don't want to be like the Covenant on this" Serina said. "I find it ironic that we may be making First Contact at the sight of the very first time we made Contact with the Covenant."
"Let's hope this time things work out a bit better for us." Anders said and the Captain and Serina nodded. And although they didn't show it, the three Spartan's also silently agreed.
However, Serina's head then jerked up. "Captain...I just picked up Slipspace Ruptures just inside our sensor range!" She shouted, tensing the whole bridge crew.
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A few minutes before
Mandao'ade Victory I-class Star Destroyer Indomitable
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Ryu, Scout and Calista entered the bridge of the Indomitable, where they met up with Captain Reeves in person. "Captain Reeves." Ryu said as he nodded, and the Captain nodded back. "Mand'alore." he replied just before getting to business. "Alright, let me bring you up to speed sir. When we first arrived in system, as you could guess, our reactions were the same as your own. However after getting over the shock, and messaging you, I immediately began sending in teams too salvage whatever we could from the surface and the debris belt, and hopefully find out whatever we could about what the hell happened here."
"First, we collected the data from the more bulky ships in the field." The Captain Continued as they walked up to a Holo-projector. "Most of the Data on the ships were corrupt or deleted, we assume the crew emptied most of their ship's Navigational Data when they were destroyed to prevent their enemies, whoever they were, from discovering the locations too their planets. However we were still able to collect small bits of information we pieced together."
"And?" Ryu asked, gesturing him to continue.
"Apparently, the first set of ships were from something called the United Nations Space Command, or UNSC." The Captain said. "Their ships and equipment are mostly advance Slugthrowers, and from what we've gathered on their weapons, they use Slugthrowers called Magnetic Accelerator Cannons, or MAC gun's as their ship's primary weapons, which fire a 3,000-ton slug at point four-tenths the speed of light, around 120,000 kilometers per second."
Ryu let out a low whistle. "That's not something to laugh at." he commented. "For a Slugthrower that is."
"Said the same thing." The Captain said. "Anyways, from what we gathered, these ships were fighting an alien race known as...the Covenant. These were the guys who did that." he pointed at the War-torn planet. "From the bits of information we gathered, after a Scouting fleet was near completely destroyed, they launched a massive counter-attack against the Covenant ships in orbit. They had the Covenant outnumbered 3/1, but they still received heavy losses losing 2/3rds of their attack force to just the one ship the Covenant had stationed here."
"One ship did all of this?" Calista asked, indicating the whole debris field.
"Most of it, yes." Reeves said before sighing. "The only reason why is because this Covenant had the upper hand in technology, seeing how the Human's of the UNSC have yet to develop Shields for their ships, laser-based weaponry or Repulsorlift tech. While the Covenant had all that and more."
"How long do you think it's been since this battle took place?" Ryu asked, his eyes not turning away from the debris field.
"We can only guess sir." The captain said. "But if I were to guess...I'd put it around being a Decade ago."
They were about to continue, but not before one of the Sensor officers called out "Sir! I'm picking up some strange readings on the sensors!" He said.
"What is it?" the captain asked.
"Its...I don't know how to explain it sir, but it's as if theirs a rupture in space." the Sensors operator reported. "Its as if...wait...INCOMING VESSELS AT SIERRA-SIX-TWO-ZERO!"
"WHAT!" Ryu shouted. "Where the hell did they come from?"
"From the rupture sir! They just appeared out of nowhere!" The Sensors officer said. "But whoever they are, the material their made out of matches that of the material of the Covenant ships sir! I'm Counting a total of eight ships!"
Ryu looked at the display of the likely soon-to-be enemy fleet. "Have you tried hailing them?" he asked.
"Yes, but no response Mand'alore." The Communications officer said. "wait...I have something. Audio only."
Ryu nodded for him to continue, and he pressed a series of buttons. Then, an alien voice echoed through the speakers: "Your destruction, is the will of the Gods!" it said. "And We are their instrument!"
"Well, that doesn't sound too good." Ryu said calmly before entering 'Mandalore Mode'. "Red alert to all ships! Raise shields and prep the Turbolaser batteries! All fighters are cleared for launch, and get the fleet into combat formation Alpha-Beta-Three!"
All of the bridge crew responded instantly, and began carrying out their orders. "Captain Reeves, we must return to the Redemption." Ryu said as he faced the Captain. "It will be easier to command the fleet there. And I think we should call in that support Jade and Trips offered us."
Captain Reeves nodded just as one of the officers spoke up. "Sir, the largest of the Covenant Vessels just launched a wave of ships, bearing down towards the surface!" he reported. "Their about as big as LAAT/i dropships, so I suppose that's what they are! Their heading towards an area not to far from where we landed out own forces! I'm counting twenty in total!"
"Then send word to the Commander down there!" Reeves shouted as Ryu, Scout and Calista left the bridge. "Tell him to expect some hard contacts, and soon!"
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Planet: Harvest
Surface
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Zack was no Jedi, but he could feel something was wrong. Neither the original Scouting party, or the Search Party had come back yet, and were long overdue. Just in case, he put the base up to yellow alert, the men were on their toes, and the automated defenses they set up were primed and ready.
"...Commander Zack, this is Adviser 44125. Do you copy?" Zack's radio turned on, receiving the voice from their Adviser from the Indomitable.
"I copy Adviser, reading you loud an clear." he said.
"Good." the adviser said "But I have some bad news for you. A few minutes ago, a fleet of unidentified warships just entered in system, and their armor material matched that of the remains of Covenant warships we found. They just launched a wave of supposed Dropships heading your way."
"Sith Spit!" Zack cursed. "Alright, we'll get ready."
"Roger that, we'll send in reinforcements as soon as we can." Adviser said before signing off.
"Alright people, listen up!" he shouted on the radio. "We have incoming! Looks like the people who blasted this planet are back, and they ain't too happy about us being here, and are sending in a force right now! Everyone get to your defensive positions, and prepare for some hard contact!"
All of the Clone Troopers all gave their confirmations, and ran to their positions. 'Just when thing's were looking bad, they got a whole lot worse...' Zack thought before his Commlink activated again. "Commander, I'm picking up some allied IFF's heading towards the base." came the voice of one of the Base's sniper team's. "Confirmed to be all five members of the Search Party, and two of the five from the original scouting party including Commander Keto."
Zack sighed in relief, finally some good news. "Alright, open the front gate!" he said, and no sooner after he said it the front gate opened, and shortly after seven figures riding five 74-Z Speeder bikes, and two BARC speeders.
On one of the BARC Speeders was a young woman looking to be in her late twenties, she had short Black hair, blue eyes, and was wearing an arctic variant of Mandalorian Shock trooper armor that hugged her figure, married too some Jedi robes. On her hips she had a pair of two cylindrical objects.
"Miss Keto, it's good to see you made it back in one piece." Zack said as he walked up towards the woman, Jedi Knight Serra Keto.
Serra gave a ghost of a smile at Zack. "Yes...good to see you too." She said grimly.
"What happened to the rest of-"
"Dead." Serra cut him off, surprising him. "We were ambushed by a group of unknown alien beings...they looked like nothing I have ever seen in my entire life. There were little small ones, bird-like ones, and a few that stood at least eight feet tall and had weird faces. They attacked so suddenly, only me and CT-1435 made it out alive...we'd probably be dead if you hadn't sent that rescue party."
"No thanks required Ma'am." Zack said. "But we think the same aliens who attacked you are making their way here, and our fleet upstairs is about to engage the enemy fleet."
Serra cursed at that, "Are the defenses up and ready?"
"Yes Ma'am, and we also finished salvaging what we could from the armory of this base. And let's just say for Slugthrowers, they really get the job done," Zack confirmed.
"Must really be something if your complementing them, Zack." Serra said with a smile.
Before their conversation could continue, however "Sir! I have eyes on inbound enemy ships making a run on the base!" Shouted one of the Advance Recon Force Trooper's on the Radio from whatever position they were stationed at. "Fifteen of them landed by those weird structures a few clicks away, but five others are moving against the base!"
"Thanks, Bucks." Zack said. "Keep your eyes on that other force." He then turned on the public Comm. "Incoming Dropships! AT-TE's, bring 'em down!"
The Regiment's four AT-TE Walkers all complied, as their Mass Driver Cannons rose up. As well as the base's salvaged 75mm AA guns, and .50 Cal Auto-cannons also came alive after over 15 years, and aimed at the skies.
From the skies descended the five Covenant Dropships. Three bulky-looking ones, and two U-Shaped ones witch thanks to the base's computers, identified them as Type-52 'Phantom' Troop Carriers, and Type-25 'Spirit' Troop Carriers respectively.
"Open up!" Zack shouted, and the base defenses and the AT-TE's unleashed a massive barrage of weapons fire against the Covenant strike force.
Though the Dropships managed to weave through the .50 cal, and 75mm rounds, or just shrugged them off, however three of the AT-TE's cannon's managed to score hits, and in three shots, three Dropship's transformed into balls of fire.
The two last Dropships, one Phantom and one Spirit, decide not to land inside the base, but rather just outside of it. Both dropship's dropped their loads of troops, along with two Type-26 'Wraith' Assault Gun Carriage's.
When Zack saw the Covenant Species with his own eyes, he could honestly say they were unlike anything they had previously encountered. They looked far more animal-like than most other species in the galaxy are, from the short 'Grunt's', to the bird-like Jackals, and the tall Elite's as the UNSC seemed to identify them.
The Covenant attacked with the Grunt's taking the lead, firing Plasma Pistols and Needlers at their defenses. "Take 'em down!" Zack shouted, and the Clone Troopers on the top of the base armed with Z-6 rotary blaster cannons, PLX-1 missile launchers, rose up and opened fire against the covenant. The DC-15's and Z-6's tore right through the Grunt's in just a few seconds, and the Jackals following were caught by surprise as the Human's weapons managed to damage their shields, causing them to overload and deactivating leaving them vulnerable to attack as they were torn apart shortly after.
The Wraith's managed to fire their Plasma Motors a few times at the base, however they were quickly silenced by two missiles each, causing their Repulsorlift's to fail, and fall to the ground shortly after exploding.
The Elites fired their own Plasma Rifles and Repeaters up against the human's who use weapons unlike anything they've ever seen, but with the fire coming from the base, they were forced to take cover behind the remains of the Wraith Tanks firing from cover.
"Keep the pressure on 'em!" Zack shouted as he too drew his own DC-15A and began firing at the aliens.
"Sir, the other enemy force just finished deployment over here, and are heading your way." Bucks said on the radio. "I'm counting a little over 100 troops of different species. Be advised, I'm seeing two pairs of those big aliens, I think their called 'Hunter's' so be careful. I'm also picking up more Dropships with Vehicles and Troops inbound."
"Right! Everyone, get ready!" Zack shouted. "Enemy Re-enforcements inbound! I want AT-TE's and Saber Fighter-Tanks at the gate!"
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In Orbit of Harvest
Mando'ade Kedabe-Class Battleship Redemption
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Ryu and the others had just entered the bridge of the Redemption. "Anything new?" he asked as he walked in.
"Enemy fleet is still in holding pattern." The First Officer said. "From the data given to us from the Indomitable, we've confirmed the enemy fleet consists of one CAS-Class Assault Carrier, two CCS-Class Battlecruisers, four SDV-Class Heavy Corvette's, and one CVP-Class Destroyer."
"I'll admit, they like to build their ships big...that assault carrier is about as big as the Malevolence was back in the Clone War's." Calista commented. "You think their trying to compensate for something?"
Ryu smirked a bit at that. "Try to contact them one more time." he said, much to the surprise of much of the bridge crew. "I want to actually speak to the commander of this fleet...I want to find out why they did this if at all possible."
"Um...yes sir, Hailing now." said the Communications officer.
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Covenant CAS-Class Assault Carrier Purity of Faith
Main Bridge
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The Elite Shipmaster Rtos' Rakaee, wearing the Golden elite armor watched in curiosity at the Unknown human fleet. He asked the crew to look for these ships for any matches in the 'United Nations Space Command' forces, but no matches were found.
"Shipmaster, the human fleet is attempting to hail us again." One of the Elite minor's on the controls reported.
"Again? Curios that they are attempting to contact us." Rtos said. He then turned his head around. "What say you, Commander?"
The Shipmaster was addressing the single Elite who wore White/Black Elite armor, signifying he was one of the Special Operations Elites onboard the ship. One could see he had seen many battles with the scratches and dents on his armor.
The Elite, Special Operations Commander Neos' Tumaee, scratched his lower mandible jaws with his hand. "Why don't we...humor them?" he offered. "The Human's have not tried to contact the Covenant for quite some time in such a direct manor. Perhaps we should see the faces of the ones we are about to defeat?"
Rtos nodded in agreement. "Well, why not?" he said as he turned back. "Open the channel, and put the transmission on the front screen."
The crew of the ship obeyed his orders and everyone paused as instead of an older male of the species wearing a uniform, instead they saw a younger scarred male wearing green/red armor under a robe with a pair of thing gauntlets and odd eyes they had never seen amongst humans before. "Thank you for finally answering my request," The male said as the link opened, his voice seemed neutral "I am Ryu Hisanaga, Mandalore of the Mando'ade, I would like to know why you are attacking us."
There was some quiet muttering at the man's declaration and his allegiance, Rtos merely snorted however "Humans are a plague in the universe no matter where they are from," He declared with contempt "The Gods and Prophets have declared your immediate eradication."
Ryu's eyes narrowed at he analyzed the Alien leader before sighing "You really are an idiot aren't you?" Ryu asked skeptically his voice beginning to turn dangerous "We have done nothing to earn any sort of retaliation, in fact, we just arrived in this system on an exploratory mission, so will you sit down to peace talks, or will I have to shove something up your ass to dislodge the stick stuck in it?"
Many of the Elites were shocked that a human would have the nerve to directly insult their Shipmaster, while secretly Neos was supressing a grin 'I like this Human.' he thought to himself. 'It's about time someone put the Shipmaster in his place.'
Rtos growled in fury. "You Dare insult me you insignificant worm?" He barked. "I could easily launch a wave of Plasma Torpedoe's and be done with you! You should feel honored that I gave you a chance to speak to me, Rtos 'Rakaee! Shipmaster of the Covenant Assault Carrier Purity of Faith From the Fleet of Inner Solitude!"
"Action's speak louder than words, shipmaster." Ryu said. "Your arrogance will blind you in this battle. You just single-handedly declared war upon not just upon the Mando'ade, but the whole Independent System Allied Forces, and neither me, nor my people will hold back against your men. See you again soon, Chakaar." And immidiatly afterwards, Ryu cut the transmission.
Rtos' Rakaee was livid. "ALL SHIPS, FIRE AT WILL AND LAUNCH ALL FIGHTERS!" He roared. "BURN THOSE INSIGNIFICANT VERMIN!"
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Redemption
Bridge
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"Way to piss e'm off, Ryu." Calista said, grimmly as their sensors read that they were now charcing all of their ship's weapons.
"Hey, they started it!" Ryu said in his defense. "But right now, let's focus on the task at hand. I want our Venator's, Acclamator's, and the Indominatable to focus fire on the CCS-Class Battlecruiser on the left, and the Assault Carrier." He barked. "Mark the second Battlecruiser for bording actions, I want Mandalorian and Clone Marines on that ship ASAP! I want all other ships to focus on the Corvette's! All fighter wings are ordered to intercept their fighters, and all Bombers are to pick their targets, and fire at will!" Ryu then stood up. "Me and the Dragoon's along with another boarding party will board the Assault Carrier, and confront this 'Rtos' asshole personally."
Calista grinned ferrally. "It's about time we got some action!" she said as she and Scout followed him off of the bridge. "Fallern and the other's are gonna be happy today!"
"I know, Calista." Ryu said, a small grin appearing on his own face. "It's time for a real battle."
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Meanwhile
UNSC Spirit of fire
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The bridge crew of the Spirit of fire plus Anders and the Spartan's watched in shock as they witnessed the communications between the Covenant and the unknown fleet. The captain risked moving the ship closer in order to get within range for Serina to at least hack into their communications and listen in. To say they were suprised that the unknown fleet were human's would be an understatement.
But what The captian though odd was Ryu's decleration of him being "Mandalor of the Mando'ade". He had never heard of any planet called 'Mando'ade' or of a title called 'Mandalore'. And Serina was just as confused as he was.
"Captain, what should we do?" Serina asked.
"Well, their deffinetly no friend of the Covenant." Anders observed. "And you know the old saying, the enemy of my enemy, is my friend."
James thought about what to do. As the professor had pointed out, these human's were no friend of the Covenant. Their ships were a lot bigger and seemed to have different weapons than what any known UNSC ship has. But if that transmission was any indication, they had never heard of the Covenant before-hand, and probobly knew little to nothing about their tactics.
"...Serina, move towards the Mandalore's fleet." Captain Cutter decided. "Attempt to hail him, and ask if he need any assistance, we are willing an able."
"Aye sir." Serina said before her hologram dissipeared, and the Captain turned to the Spartan's. "I want all three of you ready for combat ASAP." he said. "I don't know what their battle strategy is, but be prepared to aid this 'Mando'ade' in anyway you can if or when you sortie."
"Yes sir." Jerome-092 said. "Red Team will be on stand-by until further notice." and with that, the three Spartan's left the bridge.
"So, any idea who these...'Mando'ade' guys are?" Cutter asked Anders, who just shrugged. "Captian, I am about as clueless as you are right now." she said. "My only theory is that maybe there is a planet out there that had Human life on it much like earth, and that these people are from it." She then turned to look at the soon-to-be battlefield. "I will admit though...this will deffinetly be an interesting battle." She then turned to leave the bridge.
"Where do you think your going?" The captain asked.
"To my lab, to get my recording equipmet warmed up." The Professor said as she reached the door. "One way or another, we need to see how these...Mando'ade fight, and see if we can use their tactics to fight the Covenant."
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Meanwhile
Onboard the Redemption
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A man wearing a set of Red/Black trimmed Mandalorian Shock trooper armor that was mixed with peices of ARC Trooper armor walked quickly down the hallways of the Redemption. His helmet was off, showing of his short black hair, light brown eyes, and lightly scared and tan skin.
"Yo! Rev!" The man turned around to see a pair of other young men heading towards him. One looked to be in his early twenties standing at 5'7, with short, spiked black hair and odd Crimson red eyes, wearing Black/Red trimmed armor. While the other looked to be maybe a year or so older, with similar, longer black hair, but with green eyes. His armor was Black with Blue trimming.
Null-ARC Trooper-1 Revan Skirata smiled. "Hey Jordan, Matthew." He said. "You got the call as well?"
The younger one, Jordan Takeo nodded. "Ya, Ryu called in the whole Dragoon Corp for this op." He said. "He doesn't want to take any chances with these guys."
"Anyways, let's hurry up and get to the armory and get our equipment." Matthew Takeo said, and the others nodded as they quickened their pace towards the armory. When they reached it, they arrived just in time too see four induvidual's exit the armory. Each of them wearing a hybrid suit that was a mix between Mandalorian Shock Trooper armor, and Republic Commando armor. Each of them painted their own color styles with one using Orange trimming, another with Red, one with pale green, and one with Grey/Yellow trimming. They all were equipped with DC-17m's and DC-15s side arm blasters.
"Hey, Boss!" Revan called out, grabbing the former Republic Commando's attention. "have the others already gotten to the hanger already?"
Boss nodded. "Ya, most of them at least." he said. "Fordo's Alpha team left a little while ago, while your team Rev, as well as Fallern and Omega's team should either be there or one their way, so hurry it up."
"Ya, wouldn't wanna be late for the slaughter, would ya now?" Sev said, as he grinned under his shock trooper helmet while Scorch just sighed. "Sev, you worry me sometimes." he said.
"Cut it, Delta's." Fixer said. "We gotta get to the hanger. See you guys soon." With that, Delta squad headed down the hallway, and towards the hanger.
"Their right, we gotta hurry up and arm up." Jordan said, Revan and Matthew nodded as they entered the Armory and quickly got their own equipment. Jordan took out his usual set up, a DC-15A Blaster Rifle, a pair of DC-17 Hand Blasters, and on his back a classic Double-Bladed Vibrosword next to his Jetpack. Meanwhile Matthew took out a DC-15x Sniper Rifle, plus a LL-30 Blaster Pistol and a Vibro-knife strapped onto his chest. Meanwhile Revan had a bit more simple set-up of just a DC-15S Blaster and a DC-17 Hand Blaster.
"Alright, let's go!" Jordan said as he slid his Pistols into their respective holsters. "We don't want them to leave without us!"
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Redemption Hanger Bay
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Ryu had just entered the hanger bay of the Redemption, where he was already greeted by most of the members of the Dragoon Corps. Including Delta Squad, Kal Skirata and his family (Including Omega Squad, the Null-Arc's, his daughter Ruusaan, and Bardan), Walon Vau, The Alpha ARC's Fordo, Maze and Sull, as well as the Former Jedi Etain Tur-Mukan (Yes, She's alive, it will be explained how later) and Arligan Zey.
Also among them were four specific induviduals, who could be considered the 'founders' of the Dragoon Corps besides Himself and Calista.
First, was Sinai Fallern, a man with short salt and pepper colored hair and gray eyes wearing black, silver trimmed, Mandalorian armor and carrying a blaster rifle with obvious modifications to it.
Next, was Valane Trikos, a giant of a man wearing black, red trimmed, mandalorian armor with uncovered biceps and carrying what looked to be a miniaturized artillary piece.
Third, was Alita Riza, a woman with black shoulder length hair and onyx colored eyes wearing formfitting black armor with gold trim and brown cloak thrown over her left shoulder partially covering a jet pack and carrying a blaster pistol, two vibro-blades strapped to her lower back and two satchels full of shape charges.
Then, there was Krista Raez,a woman with brown shoulder length hair and viridian eyes wearing a form fitting sky blue armor with lime green trimming and carrying a blaster rifle with a concussion grenade launcher attached along with a blaster pistol and two vibro-blades attached to her thighs.
Finally, there was Valken Tier,a man who was wearing tan armor with a brown trim with his helmet that he was currently carrying having a small antenna coming out of it, he was also carrying a modified Tusken blaster rifle with a longer than normal scope and a scoped blaster pistol.
"Ah, the Ger'verd finally showed up!" Fallern shouted out, as Ryu playfully glared at him. "Careful Fallern," He said. "I'm Mand'alor now! I could shoot you out an airlock if you piss me off."
"Oh, you'd never do that to Fallern, it's not in your heart." Alita said, with a playful smirk as Ryu just rolled his eyes.
"Whatever, now are we all ready?" Ryu asked.
"Almost, we're wating for Rev, Jordan and Matthew to show up." Boss said. "We ran into them on the way here, and they were just grabbing their weapons. They should be here right about..." It was then they could see the three said induvidual's were not sprinting towards the rest of the Dragoon's. "Now."
Revan, Jordan and Matthew finally made it to the others. "Sorry we're late," Revan said. "Had to grab our weapon's on the way here."
"It's fine." Ryu said, waving it off. "You actually made it just in time for the briefing." Ryu then went into commander mode. "Alright, everyone. We're dealing with Unknown Hostiles who have been confirmed as: The Covenant. Don't know who these guys are, but they seem to have some sort of grudge against human's all-together. Our Mission is simple: We are going to board two of their ships." He then pulled out a Holo-Pad, and with a click of a button two of the Covenant ships were displayed. "According to the Data the Indominatable got, they are a CCS-Class Battlecruiser, and a CAS-Class Assault Carrier. We will be splitting up into two teams: Team one, will consist of myself, Calista, Scout, Fallern and his team, Delta, Walon, Jordan, Matthew, and the Alpha Arc's. We will be going in with a battalion's worth of Clone and Mando Marines, and raid the Assault Carrier to face 'Shipmaster Rtos' Rakaee'. Meanwhile, The rest of you are raiding the indicated CCS-Class Battlecruiser for boarding Operations, and to attempt to capture the ship for data. You will also have a Battalion of Marine's with ya for support."
"Don't think we'll need it." Darman said, with a grin. "But...it's nice to have an audiance." Etain just rolled her eyes at her husband's antics. "You can be really cocky sometimes, you know Darman." She said, with a smile.
"Ah, but that's what you like about me, right?" Darman said, with a grin. There were a couple of chuckles as Etain smacked the back of the former Republic Commando's head "What's that supposed to mean huh?" She asked with a dangerous look in her eyes.
Before Darman could come up with an answer, it was then a Clone in Mandalorian armor ran up to them. "Mand'alor, we are receaving a transmission from a ship that just entered our sensor range." He said. "Hull configuration identified it as a UNSC ship."
Ryu rose an eyebrow at that. "What do they want?" he asked.
"Here it for yourself." The Clone said, and then he played the message.
"This is Captain James Cutter of the UNSC Ship Spirit of Fire." the voice of a man said. "I am requesting to communicate with Ryu Hisanaga, I wish to speak to him about about the Covenant Threat you seem to be facing."
Ryu blinked in suprise. "Well, patch it through to my personal communicator." He said. The Clone nodded, and he pressed a few button's on his armor-mounted datapad, and he then nodded, and Ryu put his Helmet on to use it's built-in comm unit. "This is Ryu Hisanaga to Captain James Cutter." He said. "What do you need?"
"Thank you for accepting the transmission." James said. "My Ship has a large complement of troops and vehicles we can deploy to the surface to where your forces seem to be engaging Covenant ground forces, and we can establish a mobile base as well for additional support."
Ryu thought about that for a moment. "If you could get some help down to them, it would be greatly appresiated." he said. "But if you could, me and my forces are about to attempt a boarding action against two of the Covenant Ships. If you could provide us some additional support in those op's as well, it would be very helpful."
"I can send in a few squad's of ODST's in, they specilize in those." Cutter said. "We also have a team of Three Spartan's onboard, so they can deploy as well."
Ryu didn't know what a 'Spartan' was, but he guessed they were some special Commando Unit like Delta or Omega. "That would be perfect." he said. "Send one to the ground attack force, another to one boarding party, whiel the other takes the second. And these 'ODST''s sould useful. We will gladdly accept the help."
"Yes, that should work." the captain said. "We will move our ship into your fleet, with your permission of course."
"You have it." Ryu said. "Good luck captain, and may the force be with you."
There was a sligth pause on the other end. "Same too you." He said, and the transmission ended.
Ryu then turned to the others. "Alright everyone, we got some help!" He said. "Apparently a UNSC Ship just arrived in system, and is offering support. Their sending some of their troops to the surface, as well as helping us out in our bording op's. So everyone, Mount up!"