HaloME: Era of Contravene

by Evident Disaster

The Era of the Human Covenant War has ended, but the strife of a new age has dawned, now comes the threat from beyond and the chronicles of those who live in these troubled times. Chapter 26, the battle for Eta Halo has begun, the greatest battle since the time of the First Contact war has begun and all will decide the future of the galaxy. Updates have begun, CH22 has been edited.

1. Chapter 1

Halo/ME: Era of Contravene

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(AN: A quick note of all things, this story is standalone, and this story is about an AU once again, but this time slightly different, as in what would happen if the UCAF didn't listen to the Citadel Council, what happens if the UCAF instead wages war against the turians till the end? Well here's the result, and I will say this, it will go on a lot longer than before. And as a side note, this is just a prototype, I still need to clear up a lot of things in other stories, and this just came to me like a month before whole I was working so yeah, just keep this in mind.)

AN2: I just updates from this day due to a lot of errors and addressing a number of lore issues required for explaining about the UCAF, this should clear things up a bit.

It is 2555 the United Colonial Alliance has officially ended their war with the covenant and had rebuilt their ties with their long lost homeworld of Earth, however it is not time of peace… a new force emerges from the depths of space, and one that will last for one era to come.

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UCAF chronological data- ACCESS GRANTED

Date of admission- Published 2221- Updated 2521- Modified 2555

/Memo/ -Dr Valerie E Haley
To those who read this chronological archive of the UCAF you may require to read the UCAF foundation records and past ICA records in order to understand this, please note that all archives were accessed and modified by me, and any confidential data seen may or may not be factual as there have been continuity issues through the UCAF archives since 2399. All data regarding specific structures and organisations will be recorded in their own separate sections, please also note that this shares archived data on past organisations and records involving the military, economic and historic events and timelines. This information must not be allowed to fall into unwarranted hands due to the sensitivity of the information.

To those who read this, the future is not set, however the past is, heed this warning, and do not make the same mistakes… Semper Fi.

/END/

Index Archives

Factions: Note that some may not exist while others may have disbanded

In the beginning of the new colonies of the Nova Stratus region, there were over 80 known factions in control of the region of space; throughout 2221 the UCAF recorded the 8 main power factions:

Pop: 46 billion, 890 worlds, unknown amount of systems

Imperial Arcadian Empire: The Arcadian Empire was once built over the ruins of a past race that utilised space FTL teleportation; the Arcadians decided to ignore trying to understand the super advanced technology and simply accepted it as a gift from fate. The Empire structured itself on militaristic and imperial beliefs since the early 5th century when the first Arcadians witnessed the first king travel through the gateways with his armies to ascend into godhood. It wasn't until much later that it was discovered to be a teleporter and began to spread news of the new king, and thus over 500 years the Arcadian Empire has stretched far even though not being FTL capable, it encompassed over 172 planets and 5 dozen systems by 2225.

Human Unification Organisation: This faction of power was infamous through the Nova Stratus records as being completely immoral in practices with medicine and genetic manipulation, especially through the early 24th century. The Human Unification was a movement and ideal based on a single mind and body, not literally but metaphorically it meant to bring the human race under one banner and to bring the colonies to improve themselves by adapting their beliefs of improvement through health and genetics, their beliefs were well met, but not widely accepted. The HUO began expansion just 75 years before 2225, it reached over 93 worlds, but had severe restrictions due to non-FTL abilities, but it could communicate to other planets through a unique technological device found on their planet, this communication allowed access to dozens of worlds, but made things arduous as it took years to convince many, and those with them were not as loyal as they had yet to show themselves until 2225.

Imperial Orussian Imperium: The Imperium of the Celestial Tundra is what Orussia essentially means, the Orussians had been formed during the 8th century and continued to evolve into the state that it is, however it is unique due to its amazing bit of genetic evolution. The Orussian people originate on their world of Icarus, frozen tundra of a planet, but they live in underground super cities constructed millennia before their existence, it was said that their gods shaped and created them to do their will. The Orussiuan people were initially suspected to have been cloned, on closer inspection that rumour had become somewhat true, in the earliest days the ICA found that the Orussians were using an alien technology that allowed them to be cloned at nearly instant speeds, it aged the clones to a certain degree before releasing them as perfect replicas, however in the years the Orussians phased out the use of clones as there was no longer a need. Orussian space from records indicated that they possessed 123 worlds.

Independent Colonial Coalition: ICC was not only a formidable power during the early colonial era, but the fact that they had the largest coalition of planets was frightening. The ICC had formed during the late 9th century as the planet of Callistan began to advance; the Callistians had unified and advanced rapidly in technology and science putting their beliefs in religion behind for idealised morals and ethics and beliefs which suited their society. The Callistians recruited a number of neighbouring systems through talk and began to advance into modern 21st century technology by early 11th century, they had covered the areas of technology faster than that of earth, however during the period which became known as the 'colonial age' the Coalition fell apart at the seams as many new colonies wished for independence. For 400 years the ICC was engrossed in civil strife and war, and eventually it fell into a dark age of space. ICC did not reform until late 18th century and only during the 19th did it fully recover to begin again with efforts to reconnect with lost ties. The ICC first developed AI in 2101, and created cybernetics in 2021. ICC planets numbered roughly 180 worlds, however many factions that splintered decreased the numbers down to 50.

Neo Koslovic Separatists: NKS was formed about the same time the ICA was formed and was kept marginally controllable, the NKS however had many flaws in ideals and beliefs and most of the reform was half hearted corrections that worked well to suit certain colonies to join, the efforts it took the NKS to form was staggering and highly costly, the NKS did not survive with its neo communist beliefs as it died out in early 2312. Planets under NKS influence were roughly 45.

United Republic of Calisto: URC was amazingly the wealthiest faction out of the Nova Stratus factions and it was the most developed faction surpassing the ICC, but it was not as expansive as the ICC or the IAE, it took the efforts of the Calisto Strata Cluster 400 years to get to a fully developed point and the URC required to buy most of the FTL technology from the ICC when they encountered each other during the late 18th century. URC was initially 30 systems and 130 worlds but developed heavily into 80 systems and 210 worlds by the end of the 23rd century.

Arian Systems Movement: ASM was notoriously a heavy left hand fascist ruled dictatorship, Arian Molvic was an imperialist ruler who believed heavily in the strength of his people, but also his blood, he was supposed to have died during the 17th century, however with certain technology he had managed to stay alive and active, his rule had been nearly absolute, if it weren't for the many new factions which opposed him during the rise of the 19th century where the ICC and the many rebellion forces began to push forwards with a war on his rule, he was not killed until a single 4 man team infiltrated his palace and managed to slay him in 2332. Number of planets under recorded history is unknown…

Independent Colonial Alliance: ICA was the foremost impressive force of Nova Stratus region because of its FTL and colonisation ability, the ICA formed in 2225 with its position on Anomia and 12 new colonies, it began to garner support over the whole region boasting new technologies from an empire far away on a planet called earth, and thus the ICA began integration in a short 25 years. It continued to expand until it was stopped by the ICC and the IAE during the late 23rd century. The ICA formed 80 worlds and moved upwards since.

Races: This must remain absolutely confidential for the security of the human race and beyond it

Fenrisson: An indigenous species connected to the world of Valence, their discovery was not made until the 15th century by ICC colonial explorer ships. The Fenris have no intentions to join the human race as they had lived in isolation for many millennia, the ICC did not attempt to force borders open and simply remained passive. The Fenris race did not join the human race until late 2400s where the planet suffered a disastrous famine caused from heat of the local star, it had a minor solar flare which lasted 3 months and destroyed over 60% of crops and caused heavy instability in the planet's ecosphere.

Timeline: 2250-2350

ICA formation in Nova Stratus was welcomed by many, the formation of the first new faction since the HUO centuries earlier, the ICA formed with the intent to bring a democratic social order and wealth to the worlds of Nova Stratus, its 110 ships and 1.1 million colonists met with the first Anomians who lived on the new capital and integrated the pre-space capable race into its own. The ICAF was later formed in 2263 in order to defend against possible raids from pirates and slavers.

ICC and the ASM began a conflict when the planet of Vekta was invaded by ASM forces, the ICC responded with a massive fleet strike and soon the far western regions of the Nova Stratus region was engrossed in a war of attrition, it would not end until late 2341.

URC and HUO form a pact of trade in order to maximise their economic standing as the ICC colonial conflict progressed, the pact would last until the rise of the Advent order and the Imperial Vindicators of 2371.

IAE makes a calculated move to engage the ICA in the south east regions of the Nova Stratus regions, the factions face off in a heavy warzone and soon finds themselves battling on equal terms. The ICA only has the advantage of space FTL and weaponry while the IAE only possess the ability to utilise ground troops. The first conflict alerts the ICA to its fragile situation and makes the ICA council partake in a future plan to protect its space.

2350-2450

The ICC becomes united as it celebrates the victory over the ASM and the death of Arian and his rule, the support for the ICC rises and changes in power gives way for change to order. The ICC begins the next stage of development as it moves to unify the western regions of Nova Stratus.

2370 marks the beginning of change as the URC encounters a mysterious unexplored region of Nova Stratus, this isolated region reveals 64 worlds under the control of the Imperial Vindicator order which had taken root nearly a millennia before. The IVO was formed by the ruling emperor Kisage Hotari his empire had been formed through the use of alien technology in 1250. The IVO keeps at distance until offers of trade and expansion are revealed, the IVO accepts in late 2371 when the URC offers to show them regions of recently conquered ASM systems.

ICAF begins rapid expansion across all front as helps in reconstituting the many ASM worlds, the expansion of the ICA grants it access to over 61 worlds and 30 systems, it had covered as much ground in technology as the ICC, but still did not possess a formidable military.

IAE began its intervention into the expansion of the ICA and the confrontation of the IVO, this move made the Nova Stratus region breach a tension point as the IVO found the intrusion an act of stupidity and challenged the IAE in 2375.

The First Colonial War-2375-2385

The ten year period saw to the end of minor instability as the IVO began its first major step into Nova Stratus, and its first major stride into forming the UCA, the IVO engaged in the war with no belief over pride or greed, but purely on the basis of honour. The war went through 50 systems and on 60 worlds; it totalled 18 million lives and 360 billion credits worth of reparations from the IAE to the IVO.

The ICA made contact with the IVO in 2378 and joined the war, the IVO granted the ICA access to military power and technology as well as access to the legendary Vindicator Order. It was at the end of the war that the ICA suggested a combined effort to unite the colonies and bring proper order to all factions with their assistance, there would no longer be conflict, maybe minor apprehension to the idea, but it would work well with the IVO.

The IVO joins the ICA and forms the ICAF…

Second Colonial War-2415-2445

The remnants of the IAE formed into the Neo Imperial Arcadian Empire, and begin another war, the URC step in to assist as hundreds of URC worlds are annexed and the ICC also join. The war goes for over 20 years and brings into play the advanced technologies of the ICC and the IVO creating the MKI Hayabusa powered armour variant suit. The war rages on until the Orussian military joins from its years of isolation. The war escalates with the defeat of the Arcadian Emperor, Magnus Derion on Theta Arcadia.

2450-2525

The UCA is formed in the aftermath of the SCW2 as the ICA no longer was capable of being independent as it had encompassed over 5 major factions of power and over 1200 planets in 2450, the UCAF begins mass expansion and colonisation up until the covenant war.

However things did not stay normal, in 2455 the UCAF was contacted by the Office of Naval Intelligence of the UNSC and was asked into aiding in possible future plans it required. The UCAF was sceptical in accepting the ONI or the UNSC as it had long since ended its ties with earth. But the role of the ONI seemed too good to ignore, the UCAF accepted the terms and conditions and integrated and formed the ONI on Anomia, Hyperion Point base.

2500

The birth of Valerie Haley and the initiation of Project Delta One-

2520

The preliminary stage of development of the Spartan Alpha project and the final steps of Project Delta One, the initiation of Project Rey and Forge

2525

Completion of all assigned task and programs…

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/Memo/ -Aniston Grey- UCAF Rey Project Director

"To those who maybe hearing this message, I warn you about what you will hear and what you will read, this is no story of great honour or faith this was survival, and I'll be damned for those who condemn the actions we took in order to save the human race from extermination at the hands of the covenant… we did not sit on our asses and do nothing, we took the war to our enemies, with fire and vigour, we shall ensure that mankind will live to see the future, even if we do not make that journey. I say this now, 'I have become death, the destroyer of worlds'."

Project Rey: The Rey project was by far the most disturbing project ever undertaken, this child known as Rey -0149 was taken as a child and then genetically cloned with a psychic membrane in his frontal lobe, his genetic augmentations were meant to keep his mind in communication with the other Rey clones, however he suffered severe trauma and went into a coma. His body was cryogenically stored and 5 more clones of him were created in order to test the psycho telepathic communications link.

The link was proven to be highly unstable as the many Rey individuals shared memories and emotions, but also their same creator, their mother. Rey then began to show signs of psychosis amongst the young group as their minds drifted into the mind of Rey-0149 and began to relive dead memories; the ONI took action to severe the link and begins a neuro-telepathic connection to a quantum core in order to avoid any future incidents.

The units after the connection began to act normally passive and engrossed in training, their controlled belief was to die serving and then to end up with their creator in the afterlife, or the quantum core in which their fragmented existence is sent to after their initial deaths, however there was a severe down side to this adaptation, the neural link made the effect of one of the units dying and sent a psycho impulse to all other units warning them of their brothers deaths and making them relieve their deaths inside their own minds. The ONI did nothing to subdue the effects and observed intent on figuring out the working mind of the young Rey clones.

The program did not end until 2601 when the Rey units reached 11,000 units; although of the 11,000 barely 1000 survive up till 2605.

Project Alpha: "They show greater promise than that of Orion, and they show much to be offered to save humanity, it is a cruel truism that I must do this in order to save lives by destroying theirs, but it is a necessary evil that is inexcusable and for what may come I shall eventually pay for it, but till then they are my children, my legacy to humanity for better or for worse, the judgement is made by us as humans to decide upon it. I did what I believed was right, even when they suffered; I did it because it was necessary. Mind, body and soul…" Valerie Haley 2525- A Choice page223

Project Alpha was named in the alpha stages of the Spartan program; it was formed after the failure of Orion and was then used as a template to test the gene-enhancements for the SPII program, Alpha was made in order to ensure that the SPII did not fail, however there were substantial differences in the two programs, the UCAF had funded enough to have 750 candidates aside from the 75 that the UNSC could only afford, the reason being was due to the sheer amount of resources available by the UCAF and the number of highly related gene-strands of precursor DNA that was in the human race in the Nova Stratus region as many humans had been originally altered by the forerunners.

The UCAF had all candidates tested and evaluated over the period of 6 years had had them all take a 3 step initiative into becoming Spartans, the fact remained that some of the chemicals and procedures were far too deadly to perform all at once and it was advised to the ONI that doing so would kill the subjects faster, the process taken by Valerie Haley proved the best option as the program had plenty of time.

The program proved fruitful if not somewhat gruelling, the program produced 690 available Spartans from the 6 year training program and it was less suspicious as to the SPII program, many children were selected from orphanages and certain locations, there was also the fact that those children taken from families were either compliant or unaware of the circumstances involved with their children. The Alpha project moved swiftly and deftly through to the final stages without flaw.

And the program reached its intended goal by the end of 2524 to begin the Ascent Program.

Project Ascent: The Ascent was meant as an inspiration to the new generation at the beginning of 2525, the program was to provide the new powered armour of the UCAF to the Spartans, and it was also to provide Project Rey with the advanced combat skeletons which had been in secret development in the Prodigal System from early 2520. The MKIII series armour was an early prototype suit required to be piloted by a single Spartan occupant, it was a streamlined variant that shaped exactly to that of their bodies, the only flaw was that the suits had bulky designs and irregular joints, it was based off of the Powered Armour of the Vindicators Order, but had to be adapted with the EOD from the Union Specialists program in order to compensate for the lack of shielding from possible enemy fire.

The Ascent Project also featured the research of the MVF-01 series suits, the Mobile Versatile Frames were made as an external support force for the Spartans, it possessed the firepower that the Spartans lacked as well as the shielding, but it could not create a body shield only a bubble area of effect shield. The MVF was first seen in use in the Prodigal system in the first month of the war, there were records that indicated further use, and then afterwards the suits became obsolete during the fall of 2535 when the Mobile Suit program took place.

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Pop: 76 billion, 1780 worlds, 1500+ systems

Timeline-2525-2555

2525- January

UCAF troops are moved to the Prodigal and Haven's Gate, suspicion to many beliefs that there would be an expedition into the further reaches of space garner much support and thus masks the hidden agenda of the UCAF HIGH COM in its pursuit of hiding the truth of the situation.

Spartan Alpha is moved to Haven 2 days later and begins the final armament procedure before they reach Seti Etha.

Prodigal final checks completed and all MVFs had been fully prepared, only 1 capable pilot is used in the program and is set out to test in field.

5th of January brings the heralds of unknown contacts in orbit over the Haven System, the UCAF respond by attempting communication, the reply is. "Your destruction is the will of the gods, and we are their instruments." UCAF engages in space combat, the UCAF fleets are heavily armed and manage to fend the covenant off from taking the planet on several occasions; however planet side operations revealed heavy combat and action on the planet.

UCAF marine Mitchel Walker of the Marauders independent division is called in from his previous station in orbit aboard a UCAF cruiser to help in a classified mission.

18th of January the Spartan arrive on Prodigal Eta and encounters the Rey program and Dr Haley, the Dr requires to give all Spartans the armour Ascent units and then asks for assistance in evacuating all Rey units to escape craft in order to continue program, Rey Unit 201 is left behind and ordered to self-destruct once all UCAF ships escape, the unit complies and is killed in action, the first clone casualty of the war.

21st of January, Major Mitchel arrives in the Eastern Verge, he is ordered to aid in the location of a special forerunner beacon and is tasked in retrieving the technology to be sent to ONI Section III, his mission soon spirals out of control as the facility he enters is infested with a hostile parasitic entity known as the flood, his platoon is wiped out shortly and he and 3 others manage to reach the safety of the main complex, however surrounded by the flood and the covenant he soon finds no other option aside from sending the message and ending the facility, he activates a quantum purge inside the station core and sucks the station into oblivion with the flood and the covenant.

Through the rest of the year, the covenant press to engage the UCAF, battles prove to be highly costly on both sides as they are nearly equally matched, the covenant fleet masters agree to bring forth their finest commander, grand fleet overseer Tol'ree Moteree, the devised operation heralds the name of the first exalted crusade.

2526-2531

The UCAF lose over 200 light years and over 400 planets are either destroyed or rendered lifeless, more than 8 billion die within less than 5 years and over 1.9 billion soldiers of the marauders and reserve forces. The UCAF initiate military protocol and command, all military academies were to provide youths with military mandatory classes and training, all colonies were to have an immediate defence force in order to stop any chances of the colony's demise.

The UCAF military standing was at roughly 3 billion, with 175,000 available warships and vessels.

Spartan Beta begins the recruitment of more than 1500 new Spartans and advanced MKIV armour is placed into production.

2531-2540

UCAF casualties mount as the war progresses, the UCAF colonies are cut nearly finely in half at the middle of the Nova Stratus region, 490 light years had been lost, 29 billion had been killed and a million youth a day were being killed to fight the enemy covenant on the front lines. Child soldiers from ages up to 12-17 were being recruited near combat zones and guerrilla fighting becomes fierce in the region of the now known dead zone, the Daedalus Crusades.

2535 sees the change in the war as the MS program takes hold in the western regions and the eastern flanks, the UCAF begin a massive counter offensive using MS units. The war takes a significant turn, as also the UCAF brings forth the many new Spartan troops, the Beta program brings out over 2000 troops into the war and begins mass escalation in the war.

2539 brings out the covenant's own MS program to bear and the war begins to stagnate once more, the UCAF finds itself at a kill to death ratio of 1:7, the UCAF only suffering 1 for almost every 7 of the covenant's own. The war continues as it had until 2545…

2540-2551

UCAF begins the slow build up till operation Overlord to which the UCAF would spearhead a massive attack upon the covenant planetoid to kill and wipe out the hierarchs of Divine Resolve, the Spartans receive further upgrades and new forces appear. Covenant renegades begin to harbour support and the war takes a turn for change.

2545 brings into motion the massive assault, the UCAF bring to bear over 11,000 ships upon one of the 4 command planetoids of the covenant, the mass assault breaks the covenant grasp in a major sector and kills one of the prophets. Another flees into the depths of space and is pursued by the UCAF Spartan team Sigma.

Sigma encounters a forerunner planet in the unknown regions of Nova Stratus; the planet of Reverence's Grace is discovered. UCAF forces engage in battle with the covenant, and also locate the forerunner known as the Inheritor, his revelation of the human race and the forerunners changes the beliefs of the prophet of Amity who seeks to change the covenant, Amity vanishes from the Nova Stratus region and takes with him his most loyal troops in order to reform the covenant.

The prophet of Reverence takes his forces and steals the location to a forerunner ultra-dreadnought and begins to hunt for its location, the UCAF soon follow behind to deal with the rogue covenant leader and the covenant forces soon fall into civil war. All 3 planetoids are isolated however their forces manage to build a heavy resistance to the UCAF approach and the UCAF wait until the end of the hunt for the rogue prophet in order to regroup.

2550 the final battle rages after the discovery of the dreadnought Light of Grace, Himitsuki and his fellow Spartans of the specialist division of Alpha fight the covenant and the flood in the region and successfully eliminates the prophet and destroys the dreadnought in the process, Himitsuki and his forces are reported as MIA.

UCAF forces begin operation Will of Innocence, the UCAF launches a massive counter offensive into the covenant remainders, all 3 planetoids are either destroyed or captured and the loyalists begin mass withdrawals back into covenant space. The UCAF regain the region within 1 year and begins to recolonise and re-secure planets. Total death toll, 36 billion excluding the 26 billion from the UNSC, total military personnel active, 5 billion personnel, 450,000 ships and countless resources

The war ends with the Treaty of Prodigal in 2555/1/5

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Date: 21/3/2555

Location: Outpost Ili Prime- Zone 12 Testing Area

The years had passed since anyone payed attention to the small things, and it had been a long time since anyone gave a damned care in the world about the edges of the UCAF verge colonies, out here the UCAF had completely forgot anyone even lived here. But then again it was nice and quiet but boring as hell, no trooper wished to stick it out in this backwater.

Ili was built as an observation colony to the UCAF space and it was also a research facility for minor things such as Agriculture and Weapons, it was nothing, just another day at work. Thus nobody could honestly give a damn about this place, it was a hole with water in it and there were about a few hundred others which looked the same, the HIGH COM didn't give a damn.

It was also why the UCAF worked to keep the rookies from getting slaughtered, by placing those with minimal years in a base where they'd least likely get killed. This place also doubled as a base colony for young marines who had to go through training or just side duties, there were many reasons for this hollow base, and all of them was for a either idle reason or another. But there was one word that could sum up most of the reasons into one thing for troops, INACTIVE.

This was a place for those who were no longer or could not be placed into active duty, so they ended up here, stuck together a sad little family of misfits and second class marines who've just had enough. They were just here and left out to dry, until they were relieved in the next 2 years, which in truth wasn't that bad. But still they'd just end up on another world like this one doing simple run around jobs, testing, training, talking, that was it, nothing.

And here the war was about to begin…

"ERIC! You mother f- CRASH." Daniel swore loudly.

Running out of the bunks a curly haired blonde with a grin on his face sprinted at high speeds as his pursuer came up just behind by a few meters. The blonde haired teen was of the barracks the most annoying and yet funny guy to have around, Eric Cear didn't wait around most of the time to find out about the mess though; he just loved to get into the chase. He bolted down another corridor and down a hatch and managed to put the whole pump room between him and Daniel.

He walked out of the filtration room over to his room, it was located in a special nook he called the Crow's Nest, he wasn't allowed into the barracks again after last year, the M80 rigged with confetti and compressed cream incident, it was actually meant to get Daniel instead it went off and ruined everyone's good bed sheets. So now he spent his time in his hidey hole where he could just look off into the distance, it was a box room with vents, but he made sure to clear the vents and move them accordingly to avoid any incidents. He outfitted the room with blast windows and shields as well as had a number of sniping spots, they didn't call it the Crow's Nest for nothing, and he had a full 360 view of the whole area with a Revenant R10 Anti-materiel sniper. He wasn't the best shot, but he had a good level of balance to get those shots off.

He lay down on his bed and simply rested there, he'd get into shift at 6PM, he couldn't be bothered to work in this morning weather, and the planet had a 36 hour cycle, it was really annoying, so yeah, he had to work at 6 instead of 12. He just loved his job, the best one out, running around in the repair shop getting all the guns up to scratch. It was life, but he couldn't care less, the covenant war was over, he'd be getting a transfer to a colony system soon, and one in his home system, not out in the middle of nowhere, once there he just take days to go back and forth as a military courier.

But for now, he was nobody else but a ground pounder on this rock called Ili.

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Sargent Daniel cleaned the last of the soap from his hair, Eric had pulled enough jokes for today and was going to lie around until his work shift, Daniel couldn't blame the guy, and he was just bored, as was the 1750 marines from the colonies. This job was the worst anyone could end up with, doing daily routines and getting orders to do nothing but sit on their arses.

The UCAF had let them stay here as part of their extended placement in the field, because of the covenant defeat and the victory of the UCAF, he and about 2 billion troops were now on worlds like these, others in worse condition and some much better. This world was on the edge of the Nova Stratus regions and on the Verge, or the black zones. The area was famous for research teams and long deep space missions into the unknown, but in the years since the covenant war there had been zero exploration done in 30 years, the whole area was now just a dead waste of time, that until someone decides to get back to it.

As far as anyone was concerned, ONI was the only one bothered to have set up their own base here on the planet to monitor space probes, but ships do come through and mysteriously go off and then comeback and then don't even stop to do anything, they just leave. Daniel had been suspicious about the recent activities of the ONI, but he couldn't really care less, there were about 400 other problems he had to deal with, and one was him not being able to smoke until 9PM.

Don't take him wrong, he was no addict, but the Lo Sticks worked well for those who suffer a bit of stress from time to time, and for him being a 2 year war veteran, he'd like to get some rest from the whole thing. He was 13 when he joined the war, and 15 when it ended, he was just happy he'd never have to face off with anything as ugly as a covenant harbinger ever again.

He walked down to the firing range, he would kill some time, he had needed something to do while waiting for the shift to begin. Getting into the armoury he loaded up his side arm, the M6 Icarus Variant, the pistol was a black chrome finish with adjustable stock, it had an extensive recoil system installed to stop any heavy recoil. He could fire in 4 bursts without missing a beat thanks to the recoil system; it also worked to keep the gun level with long range shots.

Getting into his firing booth he decided to go for a few plated targets, his HE rounds would make short work of those before he changed to some tracer rounds. As he fired his gun, he didn't realise who else was having a similar day…

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1st Lieutenant Jonah Ackerman worked at his desk, he was filing out reports for requisition for new materials for his base, there was an extension to increase the size of the east wing, and it needed to increase for the new troops and a new garage which required construction. Jonah once worked at UCAF HIGH COM, but one day he managed to get into more trouble than he could handle, the UCAF had him transferred into the war and he fought for 3 years until he managed to get into another transfer here.

He didn't like it any better, but it was it was at least quiet and least likely of getting him killed, he didn't really look out for anyone besides himself, he was an intel officer, not a fully seasoned marine, thus his combat skills were limited to his SMG and pistol. ONI had him moved also to keep an eye on his activities, not to mention keep him from doing anything stupid again.

But he felt that there was more to this than met the eye, there was much more, in the past 5 weeks the base had received over 2 dozen shipments of munitions and weapons, not to mention tank parts and heavy equipment, the UCAF and ONI were up to something, and he knew it, but did it have to relate to the Re-. His thoughts were interrupted when a com channel opened.

"Lieutenant Jonah here." He responded.

The image of SEC III appeared on his screen, he couldn't tell who the caller was though.
"Lieutenant, this is a directive from High Command on Anomia, what you hear and see is completely confidential am I understood?" The voice asked.

Jonah felt a little more than sceptical now, he hesitated but replied.
"Yes sir."

"Good, now listen here and listen carefully…"

XXXXX

Colonel Mitchel Sanders walked down from his room, the whole staff had just been called to a meeting, this time about a future operation coming within a week, and he had no idea it was even underway, which really pissed him off. The UCAF usually tells its troopers what they're going to be facing and what was going to be coming, but the white collars up in ONI decided that the marines didn't need to know, the whole operation was some massive frigging cover up of sorts, or some damned conspiracy crap that the UCAF had these guys usually do.

He couldn't care less, but it was involving his troops and that really did matter, he had 1500 troops in his force alone, and that was thanks to the armoured teams and assault armour units following up. The whole battalion plus had seen some minor action, but that was in different locations, the whole battalion had never been fully tested. Which meant that he was in charge of 1000+ greenhorns who had little clue as to what might happen in the field, but thankfully they did retain their ability at keeping together, so it might not be as bad.

Mitchel sighed, if they were going into action, the whole battalion was going in unprepared.
And if he was leading them, they were bound to face some serious resistance, but when he appeared through the front doorway, he was surprised to see that the room was only occupied by lieutenant and 3 other personnel he hadn't seen around here, which meant that they were from ONI command on the planet.

He took a seat before the first person began.
"Colonel Mitchel, Lieutenant Ackerman, good to see that both of you have managed to get here in time, and on schedule, we feared that the last 2 or so years of being at the rear might have dulled your sense of timing. But it seems it was misplaced."

The second person began. "Now that formalities are out of the way, we need to talk about a problem we have been facing."

"What might that be sir?" Mitchel crossed his arms.

"We have been planning for a very important assignment, and as you can imagine, not all of our plans go exactly to plan… there was a very bad hitch in one that occurred about 3 days ago at our main operation theatre, and from what the teams recovered. It wasn't pretty…"

The image of a ship appeared, it was nothing like the UCAF vessels, this was more designed as a predatory bird of prey or a very agile vessel, nothing like that of the UCAF blocky and incredibly effective assault ships. The vessel seemed to have been damaged. A MAC hole was plugged into the side of it, and Mitchel could see that the MAC had gone through a good portion of the ship, which meant that this vessel would have been destroyed possibly moments or minutes later.

"Sir, what am I looking at?" Mitchel asked.

"A new contact, a new race, one that we only encountered 3 days ago in our operations theatre for a special project, it seemed that these aliens didn't like what we were doing and decided to forcefully stop us. There was no transmission this time Colonel, they just went right ahead and fired off at the whole science team and operations division, we destroyed the vessel, but then more came, about 2 days ago. They're on course Colonel, for the only inhabited system within range."

Mitchel felt his blood freeze in his veins.
"You're telling me, that in possibly 1 or 2 days, we're going to have a fleet of alien ships come out from space and start assaulting the whole damn colony? Not to mention the rest of the people on this planet?"

"Yes." The man replied flatly.

Mitchel didn't know whether he should be absolutely thrilled to be shooting at something or if he should be shooting at these damned spooks. He decided to just ask.
"What was the operation theatre you were trying to carry out sir?"

"Confidential Colonel, this goes well beyond even our control, HIGH COM doesn't need any more people knowing about it as it is, and we don't even know. We only know the name, and what happened, but nothing that could have possibly provoked this race to begin attacking."

"What was the name of the operation then?" Mitchel asked.

"RELAY was the operation name, but afterwards that was it, and the teams report that it worked, but not by our hands, but by those aliens."

Mitchel felt that his stomach was going to start doing backflips; the whole universe had nothing better to do either than piss him off with useless things and other crap. But now it finally gets off its ass to throw this at him, he didn't know if he was glad or shocked. He just contemplated all that he now knew and he asked.
"What are to do sir? From support from the colonies to arrive, it would take a week at best."

"Which is why that you and the rest of the marines will remain here with us colonel." The ONI spook said.

"What?" Lieutenant Ackerman exclaimed.

"The UCAF cannot afford to lose this world as of now, it is a strategic world in this new conflict and if this world were to fall, the UCAF colonies on our east flank would be vulnerable as well as the rest of the deep colonies. This world would be too damn a good place to use as a staging ground for an assault, which is why ONI and UCAF HIGH COM have agreed that all UCAF personnel are now active on this world, until relief can be provided." The ONI spook told him.

Disbelief was within the colonel's mind, they were damned insane to set them up against enemy troops and an unknown force of aliens, but this was how ONI worked. The colonel had no authority over the damned agents and he was being ordered by HIGH COM, his guts told him that this wasn't going to end well. Not if these aliens had their way.

"Sir, how do you plan on dealing with their fleets should they come?" He asked hiding his anger.

"A single set of ODPs have been set into formation above the world as we speak, the Halcyon pattern defence line system should be operational soon, and I've requested that 2 companies worth of your troops be sent as soon as possible to reinforce their location in orbital superiority and control." He replied.

Sanders was slightly surprised, they had called in a Halcyon mobile defence station, one of the few capable of being moved to defend outer colonial worlds. He was impressed that they had pulled such resources to help defend this world, but still it left him short of two companies worth of capable fighters. He didn't complain he knew that the stations didn't have any other military personnel besides the guys who run the whole thing and a few armed guards.

"Very well sir, I'll see what I can put together, until then, I need to speak to my marines." Colonel Mitchel said and left.

Lieutenant Ackerman followed behind him and asked.
"Sir, do you think it would come to another war?" He asked nervously.

"Yes, there's no stopping this now, the UCAF is bound to engage in another one, and I just wonder who the hell they just pissed off though." He said candidly as they walked down to the barracks.

XXXXX

Relay 314

The turians had been chasing a group of smugglers in the past 4 months and as soon as they manage to track them, they flee towards an unmarked relay, jumping away they ended up somewhere where the council couldn't reach them, or so they thought. The turian pursuit led them into a unique situation, the smugglers were gone, but instead the turians were left with what looked like a dozen science ships working on the relay, its abrupt activation shocked them.

The turian captain could see that those working on the relay were possibly a new race, but the council policy still stood to the turians, and they would enforce it, they warned the unknown race to leave, but it seemed that nothing would persuade them to leave. The captain ordered the ships to fire on the ships, their attack caught many small vessels off guard and destroyed them, other larger vessels then departed, leaving many military ships behind, they engaged in a heavy battle, it took the whole 9 turian ships to deal with 3 unknown vessels, equal to the sizes of that of dreadnoughts.

It took a while but the enemy ships then retreated after the external construct around the relay was destroyed, the fleet called for support after the enemy ships left. Though the damage to the turian fleet was obvious, 4 destroyed, 2 heavily damaged, and only 2 remaining active.

The enemy suffered practically nothing, but still their attempts at researching the relay had been stopped, the fleet reported the incident back to the council network and to turian high command, the officer in charge was awarded a medal for his brave efforts in the face of adversity and in trying to uphold law. The council was highly sceptical a person even deserved such an award for instigating a war, but they held their peace.

Now the council space was in active conflict the turians began to exact recruitment, thousands saw their chance to help in this upcoming conflict. Other races saw this as a good way to stimulate their stagnating economy, since the last war had passed hundreds of years ago. The council was slightly apprehensive about the war; they read the reports from the turians. However they were unsure if they should attack a race which utilises many large vessels.

The turian councillor however was adamant about the skills that the turian forces could show and said that all would be fine. The council figure had been waning in power as more races believe that the council didn't have the ability to fight back, the batarians used this as an excuse to increase their activities, however thanks to this conflict the turians were willing to stand in the name of the council to show that the council forces were highly unlikely to lose this fight.

XXXXX

Location: Outpost Ili

The whole base had been put into high alert; the main Winter Contingency had been activated, all data files on the UCAF colonies were wiped along with all the star charts and any record of the UCAF activity. Any and all ammo packs were being unloaded, the tanks were being rolled out with the first armoured company, the troops were almost prepared, after Colonel Sanders had sent 4 platoons out into the orbital defences he had prepared all the marines down on the ground.

He had been working round the clock to get the troops in position to give the unknowns a taste of real hell, but still if things went awry, the marines were going to be in for a long haul. He had the battalion commanders into place, making sure that they remembered what to do, if worse comes to worse surrender, but don't give up the fight unnecessarily, he had all the armoured teams get ready to rush the possible enemy assault.

He listed the vehicles that they had on site for the battle:

6 scorpion MBTs

14 Warthogs FAVs

4 Cougar APCs

16 Mongooses

4 Fox Mobile Artillery Cannons

6 Hornets

4 Pelican Gunships

4 Falcon Fighters

2 Aires Gunships

1 Vulture

1 HAV Vulcan M10

And down in their testing equipment, a single Mobile Versatile Frame- Exoskeleton MKV- the pilot was an android known as Kale.

They had more than enough firepower to deal with whatever these aliens could throw at them. Sanders just prayed that the troops have better luck than the armoured formations and support though, the troops were going into the thick of the fighting. It was then he received a communications, it was from Anomia.

A message sent from HIGH COM: Priority ALPHA

[Protocol AEGIS has been initiated, time of arrival 1 week]

The message ended there, but Sanders knew of what had just happened, the bastards really were planning on going to war, because Aegis, the AEGIS, was going to be used. He had seen a little of what the Aegis unit could do and he was terrified and yet relieved that they were sending her into deal with the attack here, but it worried him that they'd start using the more advanced elements of the UCAF in such short time. He had expected a whole division of helldivers to be moved here.

But one good thing for him is a very bad thing for anything alien.

XXXXX

The turian fleet was moving into place, their scouts had reported a nearby system with definite subspace signals emanating within the range of them. This meant that their unknown race was waiting there, and possibly either a colony or their homeworld, the council wasn't going to send any support just yet, unless further evidence was provided that these beings would back down to force, this meant that the turians had the ground until they saw reason to aid.

The turian officers all felt that the coming battle would prove most effective in garnering support not to mention morale, but they didn't need to get too cocky, their enemies were one that they hadn't seen before, and would more than likely fight them. The fleet began to charge up their engines and begin FTL, they'd face whatever was coming, and they'd face it well, besides what could a bunch of primitive beings possibly possess that the turian military couldn't hold off?

XXXXX

(Added…)

ONI: Pinnacle Base

Aaron processed the data from the original operation initiated by ONI, his processors compiled all data about the relay, and it was amazing that the UCAF had discovered such a thing just sitting there. But what perturbed his interests was the method which the UCAF used in finding the relay. ONI had been keeping him in the dark about where the data for the location came from, only that it came from a marine who had been in charge of a very special mission a long time ago.

This seemed to make Aaron feel nostalgic in a sense, but not in a normal way, more cautious. It was weird it was like he had heard what the ONI had told him before. He shrugged the thought from his processors and suddenly noticed something; the lights on the sensor net had lit up.

XXXXX

Commander Jason Macy was in charge of the planetary defence of Ili, he had years of naval experience and defensive training, he also knew how the Halcyon defence fort worked like the back of his hand. The entire MDP would hammering anything that got too close for comfort, being armed with 1 Ultra MAC which spits out a 10,000 ton slug at the speed of light and 24 battery rails and mass driver cannons, the whole fort could fend off even the most powerful covenant vessels, if they were bothered to remain in range. The station also features a number of missile pods and point defence turrets with an energy shield system installed across the whole station, its powerful enough to withstand more than 200 strikes from covenant plasma lances and direct energy strikes.

The station was in length of 5km top of the cannon to the vents, and by breadth from the port side guns to the starboard side was 2km, the station had about 750 personnel and plus the 200+ marines from the planet made up for internal defences, the external should have been about 4 escort corvettes and 2 frigates with 1 cruiser and about 80 fighters stored in its hangar bays, but it seemed that naval support wouldn't be in for a week except the single frigate that had arrived from ONI, they were on their own.

However Commander Macy wouldn't be so easy to take down, he had planned out for some extra defences to be placed around the station, 200 mines were within range of the station, all hidden to enemy sensors, and only the UCAF knew how to detect them. The UCAF would be able to fend off the attacks for a while until support arrived, or until they were all killed.

Macy watched from his command station, the CIC was a buzz of activity as young men and women worked to get everything prepared in time, it was a short notice to pull out the whole station from its original position above Shanxi, but they stated it was necessary. Within any day the enemy fleet was expected to launch its attack, and Macy was the only thing between them and the small colony outpost, which didn't put as much pressure as it did for a capital system with hundreds of millions of lives on the line than just a few thousand.

It was roughly 2 days after the initial orders that the sensors picked up the incoming enemy fleet, they dropped just outside of their range and was closing fast, and it was hammer time.
"Bring the MAC gun to full charge, I want hot barrels. All point defences are to be regulated between enemy missiles and fighters, and get all missile pods loaded with Magnus Hell Fire missiles, cluster class ones to deter enemy approach." He ordered.

Alarms across the station rang for war, and the marines on the planet prepared for what would come.

XXXXX

Daniel woke with a start as alarms began to ring, that was a general alert for incoming enemy forces, he shrugged it off as a drill, why the hell would someone start a drill at 3 in the morning? He just hated these days, they usually meant that there was something happening at 5 or 7 not 3. But he couldn't care, he was tired, so he drew up his uniform and placed on his full marauder gear, he'd have to ask question later.

There had been rumours that another alien race may have been on approach, but what the hell were the chances of it ever occurring? It took like 500 years for them to find the covenant, why would anyone else appear? Jogging down to his locker he got his helmet and combat gauntlets and brought out the AR-Carbine, his favourite gun, a single semi-automatic with 30cal bullets and the lightest recoil gun ever modifiable, with an underslung 25mm high explosive shell designed to rip apart enemy armour like paper. His gun also featured the newest mass driver instalment and had ionic tipped rounds capable of blowing apart enemy shields and armour.

He strolled out the front door down to his squad, he could see that Eric and the others had assembled at their designated position, a bunker just outside the range of the courtyard with range of the whole simulation battlefield, it was the perfect place to mount a defence because of the fact that every marine knew it like it was their own backyard, which it literally was.

He saluted lazily to his squad and said sarcastically.
"So, is everyone present for this wonderful evening?"

A chorus of 'yes' came through with some nods, which told him, they didn't care as much as he did, they just took their positions and waited, snipers on the roofs of their nests. And the others scattered around their perimeter to look out for anything moving, this drill happened every fortnight and wasted a good 3 hours, but no one complained, that was military life out here on a border outpost.

He took sights of the surrounding area, the same old training course, the place hadn't changed much in the past 2 years he'd been stationed here, and it was unlikely to change, whatever the colonel cooked up wouldn't be worth getting excited over. He just kept his gun trained on the area ahead; it wasn't until Eric called over the com.

"Hey Daniel you might want to look up right now…" He said.

"Dude I know that you're going to pull one of those 'took the bait' jokes." Daniel replied.

Eric replied sounding more urgent.
"Daniel seriously look up at the fucking skies… there's seriously something going on."

He sighed.
"Fine as soon as I look up I'll put my gun up your ass."

And he did as the private asked him to do, he took a lazy gaze upwards, but then he stopped, his eyes were no longer lazy, and he wasn't the only one looking up. The whole battalion was looking into the skies for what they were expected to arrive, and they could see it. Thousands of lights glimmered in the skies; it was a sight to see, one that haunted the young Sargent's memories. The whole night sky was laminated by explosions and fire exchange from space.

"Sweet and merciful forerunner…" One marine prayed.

The colonel then alerted them.
"All units prepare for enemy assault, prepare to repel incoming hostiles, ETA 10 minutes."

XXXXX

Casey hadn't imagined how the aliens had this many numbers, but they were desperate, the first waves were fighters which the CIWS wiped out completely, AA missiles and guided missiles along with the many point defence turrets were devastating the enemy fighters like flies. And then the enemy began their approach, a dozen ships appeared and began to pelt the station with as much fire power as they could muster. However the advanced reflective shields and barriers held the attacks at bay, and with that, the enemy ships now found themselves in quite a situation, the first MAC round destroyed 3 and crippled 2 and soon more ships poured in from FTL.

Casey watched as the enemy fleet desperately attempted to punch the shields by sheer force, they didn't understand the UCAFs ability to withstand anything up to a supernova that or merciless enemy numbers. The station defences began to blare, the internal AI called out.
"All troops prepare to repel enemy boarders, repeat, all troops prepare to repel enemy boarders."

Marines rushed to each docking port and defence arm. Machine turrets and combat drones along with security personnel manned each choke point while the marines secured the hangar bays and critical zones. The marauders had missiles launchers and a few other neat little toys from their use during the war; they'd finally be put to good use.

The first boarders appeared in the starboard hangar bays, shuttles the shapes of stubby bricks with strange engine shapes landed and started to drop troops off while a couple of gunships also followed in to cover them. The marauders opened up with all that they could muster, ion explosive shells and heavy 75 calibre machine guns ripped into everyone that stepped out from the dropships and gunships, the aliens were taken aback, being cut to shreds wasn't something that they were used to.

The gunships provided some cover, but it was insufficient in covering all the troops disembarking, bodies piled up as high calibre rounds and devastators ripped them apart some who made it to the crates and scarce cover ducked as much as they could to avoid being decapitated by laser and sniper fire. Those who were unfortunate to be standing to close to the marauders were torched by flamethrowers and incinerators.

But still they piled out into their line of fire, troops rushing in by the dozens and soon hundreds, one marine managed to hit one and watched as the bullet cut through 2 more, but still 6 came and replaced the fallen alien. This fight was becoming a slaughter house. Heavy auto turrets made a mess of things quickly, but still more poured in. Soon the marines were being forced back slowly, the auto defences would hold them back long enough for the marines to fall back from the overrun area.

XXXXX

Casey watched as reports flooded in, the aliens had spent the last 9 waves expending them on the hangar bays, there were reports that the whole area was being flooded by corpses stacked over knee high, that was an interesting if not troubling thought. The aliens were determined to break the defences of the UCAF, but this meant sacrificing their own to get through, there were even more troubling reports that there were also psychic like entities within their ranks as well determined to break through.

He could see now that he had no choice, he'd have to call in the adepts to cover the squads and platoons with shields and increased protection to hold the lines. But the other part of the bad news was that the alien ships had now broken past their defence line, they had brought out an estimated 200 drop ships and gunships to the planet, and soon the Colonel would be fighting on his own planetside.

Casey didn't like this, soon they'd either be overrun or dead, he'd hold, but it was still going to take time for the UCAF, they just needed to hold.

XXXXX

This was nothing like facing the covenant, these guys were trying a more scattered attack, they were trying to land their troops before they tried to directly attack the base, and this was a far more effective tactic, if not slightly flawed. The UCAF missile batteries and long range AA guns had a full spread on the enemy drop ships and gunships, there were also rail batteries keeping sight on anything, which meant that a direct assault upon the base would not be advisable without using artillery to hamper the defenders or keep the batteries guessing.

When Daniel saw the first drop ship he ordered the squad to wait and called in their rocket teams to keep their sights until the drop ship landed, the covenant phantoms had shields and the only time they dropped was during a drop, so it made sense that firing on the enemy while they disembarked would have been smarter. As soon as it made its drop, the forward rocket team fired a HEAT round into the door of the drop ship; the troops had moments before they were completely engulfed by the fireball.

The drop ship exploded brilliantly in orange flames and shattered to pieces over the whole area, the marines didn't celebrate just yet, there were about another 10 which landed nearby. Daniel knew that this was it, there was nothing to hold them back and nothing to fear, their enemies were going at them, and they'd kill them all.

Eric shouted and fired.
"Contact!"

The barrage of AR rounds and heavy machine guns and snipers rang out across the area as the enemy came rushing from different corners and edges of the surrounding terrain, there was only fire and smoke as weapons turned the street into a killing field. Bits and pieces of the hostile aliens were scattered across the earth as they ran into the line of sight, if the bullets didn't kill them, the HE launchers would. The impacts blew apart whole squads and individual troops like they were made of paper, only blood stains and decapitated limbs and viscera covered the earth.

Daniel watched as his platoon ripped into the aliens without mercy, sure they were greenhorns, but that didn't mean they couldn't shoot. Eric was getting headshots from his position while Daniel used his AR to pick out enemy advances, he called in artillery support when the fighting intensified, but he wasn't beat yet.

The battle in the skies raged without end as fighter dogfights blazed over everything, bullets and lasers and missiles went from left to right. This was war, and war had come to the UCAF once more. Now it was a matter of time…

XXXXX

88th Helldivers- AKA Cerberus Regiment

Jack's helmet was matte black, with the skull white markings etched into the forward visor with paint, the death mask made the UCAF helldivers the most terrifying and demoralising enemy the UCAF could ever unleash upon the covenant. The most famous of the helldivers though were that of the 88th, Jack's regiment.

The 88th had been around since the beginning of the war, 30 years ago, they had fought on every front, on every field and on every battle that the human mind could possibly imagine. They entered the pits of hell and came back and even then they weren't satisfied, they went back a second time, and faced the covenant dreadnoughts and still they glorified more war. That was the reason why the helldivers were so great, so grand so devastating, absolutely terrifying.

The other reason for the helldivers was because of their skill in the field, and the years of experience and brotherhood, it made them strong, their bonds kept them together through most of the war and granted them the ability to continue to fight even against impossible odds.

Jack had led them for 30 years and he'd lead them until their end, and now back to what should matter, his role in this new war with this alien race… ONI had ordered him to move out with the Aegis 07 model to get to the field as soon as possible, clear the ground for the rest of the UCAF military and secure a strong point and ensure that the relay does not fall absolutely into enemy hands. These aliens were not allowed any sort of mercy, kill on sight. His orders were clear, and his mind was set, he'd do as he was ordered, and may the forerunners have mercy upon those who stood against the dogs of Hades, the dogs of war.

XXXXX

(I've begun a full scale update of the whole story, and this is just the beginning. The next 4-6 chapters might be updated in the next 3 days.)