In the name of Earth and Balaho, till the bitter end!
Prequel part 2, The Didacts last stand
If you are only here to read the story, not listen to an explanation of anything, skip to the next not bold sentence
Please remember I started writing in this before I even posted the first chapter, so I will only have started implementing the comments about how it can be done more efficiently somewhere halfway through writing this. Also if any beta-reader reads this and thinks: this guy needs help, his stories all actually need help. I would love the assistance.
I don't actually have a beta-reader despite searching for one multiple times. This means that I have to reread my stories multiple times looking for mistakes all over. Considering those mistakes have been made by myself, the chances of me picking them up are lower then if somebody else looked into it.
So any interested beta-readers, please message me and I'll gladly accept the assistance. Anyways now that that's done, lets get on with the disclaimer.
Disclaimer: I don't own either HALO or Mass Effect, if I did I wouldn't be writing this story, instead it would be the script of a new game involving both franchises. With probably much more interesting action scenes and interactions due to me only giving a general outline of the whole project and actually professional scriptwriters doing everything else.
Dimension: HALO, Location: the light frigate UNSC Divinity near unknown fore-runner structure, date: 5th of August of the year 2557 of the UNSC military calendar 00.59 hours (The moment when Cortana orders the attack run to start)
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Master Chief POV
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I can feel the ship firing its main gun beneath us, and with me all others here feel the same thing. Looking around for a moment I can see that they are all ready for the oncoming battle. Some seem to be praying, others are checking their weapons, a few soldiers are staring at me in some kind of hero-worship, the usual.
I can feel the UNSC battle-net powering up, everyone becomes silent the moment I raise my hand to get said silence. ''Battle-net is up,'' a bit unnecessary Cortana, though with the current situation of the new arrivals they might not have known it as well so makes some sense to state this first.
''Master Chief Petty Officer Sierra 117 is in command of all ground forces. We're going to be able to drop you 0.5 kilometres from what seems to be the control station of this structure, if Didact is there either let the Master Chief handle him or signal in air-support, I repeat do not try to handle him yourselves signal in Master Chief or air-support.''
Taking the chance to speak up after the message stops, I can now give them a rough plan. ''Speed and the element of surprise are our main advantages in this battle, and outside of across the board troop quality probably also our only advantages. We are going to move towards that command post as fast as possible, however chances are high that there are a number of static defences, leave those to me and the air support while you all concentrate on getting inside the building as fast as possible while taking out any enemy infantry blocking your way.
We need to be inside before enemy armoured divisions or air units of any kind can respond to our attack.'' All soldiers nodded at this. ''Speaking of air support, Flight lieutenant d'Alain, are our pelicans fully ready for battle? Are they also positioned well enough to be able to leave the ship upon our ships getting down to the ground?''
''Yes Sir, the pelicans are ready and will depart the moment the infantry has left the ship. I do have to caution you again sir, that after the first five or so minutes our air superiority over the Covenant wannabe's will probably be over, after that we will be fighting any bird they can get up into the air. So we'll need to do something to the IFF system of the automated defences on both the target base and wherever they have their areal fighters some time before that.''
I already knew this, but it is good that all troops know it in case I get incapacitated during the battle. I felt the ship touch down and the hangar doors started opening. Ordering ''Go, go, go!'' while charging out myself with the others forming a perimeter on me as I get into position, I looked around to see that no enemies were hidden anywhere nearby that the ship might have missed.
''Clear!'' after hearing the all clear sign being repeated by the officers in other areas our ship's pelican flew out. Where is the other one? ''Sir our pelican moved during the descend into atmosphere, we have to move more carefully or else we will hit the roof of the Hangar.'' This was happening while I was listening on the conversation between commander Yullup and Cortana, causing me to reply to his question.
''Yes sir, all troops are done embarking, we are only waiting for the Pelican of the Athena to leave the Hangar, it had moved during our atmospheric entry.'' I noticed that the other pelican was now flying out of the Athena. ''Everything is out now, ground operations are ready to go! Good luck in space captain, commander.'' Good luck Cortana, you're going to need it as much more than I do this time around.
I switch over to the in-atmosphere part of the battle-net. ''Move out, the entrance of the enemy command centre has been marked, the marker should show up on your HUD's.'' We moved out at a good pace, though for me its only a light jog, for most beings I know this would have been close to sprinting.
''Pelican 1-3-0 to ground forces, watch out there is a group numbering at least battalion strength Storm Covenant troops nearing your position. Seems to be mainly infantry and not acknowledging my presence, less than four kilometres out from the base. We will do what we can to lower their number but their only vehicles are mechanised anti-air guns, so we will not be able to perform more than one airstrike.''
Damnit, we're only slightly more than two companies in strength ourselves. ''Double-time it,'' We're going to need to take out the garrison of the command post before they arrive, otherwise we'll be pinned between the command posts garrison and this battalion while we're also being harassed by the enemy air-force and on top of this we wouldn't even have cover. ''the compound is 40 meters past this hill.''
Why did the Forerunners actually have this obsession with having their stations look like actual planets? Never-mind, its an advantage for us. I scale the hill, drop to a knee and aim my Spartan Laser before firing it, obliterating both the armoured door and whatever enemies had been near it on the other side, the moment its done firing I sling it onto my back and take out my hard-light carbine, charging through the newly opened door.
The moment I enter enemies start firing at me from the western side of the room, causing me to turn. While I return fire, I take in the situation. Two Unggoy soldiers with plasma pistols behind what seems to be overturned furniture, the two Sanghelli I'm exchanging fire with that are standing out in the open with plasma carbines and three mechanical opponents all wielding plasma pistols.
While taking this in I manage to take out the shields of the Sanghelli major on the left, putting three rounds in his head immediately afterwards, before charging towards the Sanghelli minor as he is switching his carbine for a plasma sword. Me shoulder checking him, thus throwing him into the wall and probably delivering a concussion before I grasp his plasma sword out of the air as its falling and stabbing him in the chest with it prevents him from fulfilling this action.
A quick look around shows that while I was busy with the Sanghelli the first marines charged into the compound and were now filling the unshielded enemy Unggoy with lead, making the decision for me on what opponent to take on next as I charge towards the mechanical enemies, grabbing the closest one before throwing him at the one furthest away from me while beheading the last one with the plasma sword, before stomping through the heads of the mech's on the ground once each.
Taking a moment to look around the room while I store my new plasma sword on my hip, I realise it is much larger then I originally thought, and also a better defensive position if you have enough people to actually man it decently. ''Sergeant Mikhail, take your squad and investigate the area upstairs, according to scans there is nobody there but do watch out, I might not be able to detect these mechanised opponents when their bodies are offline.''
This got me nods and a salute as a reaction, causing me to turn to the commanding officer of the first expeditionary company, captain second rank Dimitri Gorbatsjov ''Captain as of now you are in charge of the defence against the approaching battalion, you will have your own company plus both the first and the second platoon of the second expeditionary company to assist you.
Half of the third platoon of the second expeditionary company will join me in going to face the remaining garrison and whomever is in command of this structure, while the other half of said platoon will form a reserve force, bound to support either group depending on whom needs it the most.''
He saluted and went to organise the defence, however at that moment the commander of the second expeditionary company, an Unggoy confederacy lieutenant called Yiwiz spoke up ''Sir a question, will I be going down with you or will I be in command of the units of my units stationed up here?''
''You'll join me, you not only know the capabilities of your men better than I do, you also have more intimate knowledge of how to use both covenant and Forerunner systems then any of the other troops currently with us do,'' I see him a bit confused, but still smiling at the compliment and he salutes before calling the second platoon towards us.
It is the truth: while I've been on a much larger Forerunner structures then him, Cortana was always the one actually interacting with the technology. I just dealt with whatever enemies were nearby. And the only other one in both companies that has ever actually been to a forerunner structure besides the former covenant capital is Captain Gorbatsjov.
Once the Unggoy are all here, we descend down the stairwell, meeting no resistance except for what seems to be a mechanical armed with only a plasma pistol, that dies from a shot through the head from my carbine. This is too easy, way too easy. Either a trap of some kind, or we have false intelligence and this is only a decoy instead of the real command post.
''Something is wrong here, in case you notice anything suspicious, fire at will.'' I say through our internal comms, gaining affirmatives from the entire group. As we walk up to a door I use the infrared function of my suit to scan the Hallway through the closed door, I can see enemies behind a barricade set up a dozen or so metres to the left of the door.
I hold up my hand to halt the advance of our soldiers and notify them of this. ''Ready your grenades, there is an enemy presence roughly a dozen metres to the left of the door behind some barricades. Lieutenant, you know how to open doors like this right?'' as I see the mass of heat that has the IFF tag of the lieutenant nod at this, I continue on. ''Good, go man whatever device that will allow you to open it.''
He calls up a wrist-computer and seems to type a few things before replying ''Ready when you are sir.'' Okay, that is a surprise. Had expected it to harder to operate the door on a forerunner base that has an actual fore-runner operating the damn thing, but anyways. Let's not look a gift horse in the mouth. Though on the other hand it might be a trap so I will need to watch out even more so than before.
''Lieutenant open the door once I finish counting down. I'll throw in a flashbang first so that they do not realize exactly where all the other grenades land and as such won't be able to dodge them. While this will take care of our organic opponents, it probably won't take out many if any of their mechanical assistants, once the grenades have gone off I'll storm in the room to take their attention and take those down.
First and second squad follow my lead, the remainder of you take out any enemy organic soldiers still alive and take their weapons if there's something useful still left intact after we blow up the room. In case of an ambush, form up using strategy two centred just behind my position, is that understood?''
I get affirmative replies through our comms though they are silent so as to not possibly let enough sound escape for the enemy to notice there was somebody here. I first tag the area where most of the heat sources are as to give the other's a more specific target, then start counting down with my hand.
The moment I reach zero, the lieutenant opens the door allowing me to thrown the flashbang in causing the enemy forces to start firing at an enemy that hasn't entered. The lieutenant closes the door again for a second, then reopens it after the flashbang has gone off.
In the meantime I had already grabbed a new grenade, throwing it in the direction of some heat sources not in the area I had tagged for the platoon to target. Seconds later while I'm bringing my carbine to bear the grenades explode, giving me the opportunity to charge into the room, only to be greeted by plasma fire slamming into my shields, upon which I see a group of three Sanghelli and nine mechanical troops on the other side of the room behind a barricade of overturned furniture firing at me with plasma carbines.
While making this observation I'm already firing at the mechanical troops while moving towards them, tagging them also to give my support targets. While five of the mechanicals die from hard-light shots, the remaining four die due to plasma shots of my supporting forces that are now moving into the room behind me. Shields are getting low, need to kill these fast.
The shields of the rightmost Sanghelli are the first to fail, before his face gets removed from its original location by a plasma shot, allowing me to target the central enemy whom decides its now a good idea to abandon this position and instead charge forward with a sword in hand. Young and impulsive probably. Won't have the time to learn either.
As I think of this Spartan Time kicks in, allowing me to take down the charging Sanghelli with a few shots into his left eye, before my shields fail due to the shots of the last Sanghelli. Before he can take advantage of this however, my Unggoy support breaks his shields, allowing me to put two rounds into his head.
While he falls to the ground I check the room around me, apparently the Unggoy had formed up in a line behind me with the shield function of their wrist computers activated as ordered, with a few of those not needed in the line checking for signs of life among where the enemies of the targeted area of our grenades was.
''Good. The enemies on the far side of the room had gear that allowed them to escape heat detection but don't seem to have had any kind of stealth cloak on. We can't trust thermal sight to actually show us all opponents, however visual should work better.'' I look around the room again and notice a computer of sorts on the other end of the room.
''Lieutenant, go towards that thing and see if you can find a floor plan on the thing. Everyone else, grab energy swords from the downed Sanghelli if they have any, I have the feeling we're going to need them.'' After getting affirmative replies from them I go and stand guard at the door out of the room, though thermal sight doesn't show any enemies in the next hallway, it had already failed me once so not taking any chances anymore.
The lieutenant then called out to me, seemingly very happy with what he discovered ''Sir, I have the floor plan, was easy to find for some reason, however one thing: according to the logs the entire base has only got some fifty units in it, with the fallen God probably having been confident nobody would find them this soon.
Even better news, the mechanical troops were included in the unit count!'' The troops in the room looked up from scavenging enemy weapons and cheered at this, which while a bit overreacting, it is good news that we won't have to fight our way through an entire regiment of enemies.
Let's see, there were only ten guards upstairs, with three of them having died due to the laser shot before they could even fight back. Then one more dead on the stairwell, with 8 having died here due to our grenades and the twelve ambushers. That's a total of thirty-one dead opponents, and nineteen guards remaining. However we don't know one crucial thing. ''Tell me, is there any evidence on if the Didact is actually already here?''
After roughly twenty tense seconds, the lieutenant turned towards me ''Sir you were right, the Didact is here.'' This seemed to dim the mood of our troops badly. ''The good news is that he seems to be in a less then optimal state, meaning you will probably have an easier time fighting him then you did last time around.''
That is good news. ''When we get to him, you and the others take out the remaining storm covenant soldiers first while I go and face the Didact in a one on one fight. After that, deliver long range support but be ready to defend yourselves with the gathered plasma swords in case he decides to charge against you instead of having a duel with me.''
The gathered soldiers looked noticeably frightened at the prospect of having to take on an enemy more than four times their size in close quarter combat, especially since that someone is part of a race most of them have been praying to as if they were Gods for most of their lives. However they seem to steel themselves and exchange some nods before turning towards the lieutenant and all saying a phrase in the Unggoy main language, Balohan.
He nods in acceptance and turns towards me. ''We will follow you till the end sir, for Earth and Balaho. We won't let this mad fool ruin our people's chances at finally having freedom instead of being little more then slaves, nor will we let him kill the race that actually gave us that chance to once again decide our own fates in the first place.''
As one they salute me after this, repeating the cry their lieutenant gave. ''For Earth and Balaho.'' This puts a smile on my face, this is a group of men and women I'm proud to fight side by side with. ''For Earth and Balaho. I am proud to serve besides you all now we shall move to remove this threat against the survival of both our species. Shield formation behind me as we continue, I want there to be no way for the enemy to get past us using stealth of any kind.''
''Sir, yes sir.'' I take the lead, ensuring the next hallway is clear while they form up behind me. As we advance further, I notice a shimmer in the air. Cloaked enemy perhaps? ''Ready yourselves, I think I saw a cloaked opponent in the hallway. Once I start firing, lay down a field of suppressive fire on my sides while those directly behind me will continue moving up to form up on my position once the flanks stop firing.''
After gaining affirmatives from them, I aimed my rifle down the hallway in the opposite direction of my cloaked enemy, acting as if I was just sweeping my rifle to accurately target potential threats.
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Yiwiz POV
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Readying myself I saw the Demon open fire causing me and Zliz beside me to run the short distance forward while our flanks provided fire support to the Spartan. ''Hold fire'' They stopped firing on command, allowing me and Zliz to stop besides the Spartan with our shields active while firing down the hallway at a charging mechanical construct, everything else already having been taken care of.
Two of my plasma bolts through its torso later all of them were dead, 8 bodies, six mechanical and two Sanghelli. ''Ambush taken out, I am moving forward, Lieutenant Yiwiz, corporal Zliz, stay at my side. Corporal Jetz, Private Niln and Private Japlat have rear-guard duty for the moment. Everyone else ensure all enemies are dead. This is too easy.''
As I move to follow him, I'm thinking on his last words. Why did they try to ambush us in a mostly clear hallway with only small alcoves at the sides? According to the floor plan of the building there should be a much more suitable location in the room down the stairs some 50 meters from here?
This really does seem way too easy for any even half-decent commander to be leading our opponents, and the enemy commanding officer was the leader of the Gods in a centuries long war with both the humans and the flood, how could he potentially be this foolish? Might this just have been an attempt at slowing us down?
No matter, we have the demon with us and for once all of us have not only decent equipment but also a numerical advantage while the enemy units have older and not too well maintained gear. Any plans they have are doomed to fail from the start with both of those things factored in.
On the other hand he does have access to troops capable of a personal slip-space jump over short distances, maybe he is gathering those to his current location? But then why would he use these soldiers as an ambush against us and not his troops that can literally teleport behind us or just away from us the moment we discover their location slowing down our advance severely?
Sigh, thinking on it doesn't really do me much good, I'll just focus on the here and now. As we walk towards the stairs and take firing positions on top of them for now. ''All enemies are truly dead sir, nothing much of anything special either about their gear besides very basic stealth cloaks, plasma swords on the Sanghelli and some plasma cutlasses for the mechanical constructs. We have taken the liberty to arm those of us that didn't have swords yet with those things.''
''Good, now form up in a shield formation behind my position again, and stick to the original plan if possible with one change, the rear-guard stays rear-guard unless the situation changes drastically, this whole situation just screams 'trap' to me.'' He's probably right on that one, this might be too easy. There are way too few soldiers here, he should have been counting on a UNSC or Sword of Sanghellios task force finding him at some point right?
Or maybe we're thinking about this entirely the wrong way. Maybe he thought such a group would be able to find him soon, however that he would not be in this location to be found long before that? No matter, right now I need to focus on what is currently going on. The Demon signs us to stop, what has he noticed that I haven't? Checking the map I see the next room is somewhat large, maybe he thinks there will be another ambush attempt in there?
''There is a number of heat signatures in the next room, including one that is much taller then all others. The didact is most likely in there. Hold yourselves to the plan.'' Take out everyone that is not the didact, then assist the Demon by providing cover fire during his fight with the Didact, got it. As we all nodded to his orders, he gave a nod back and moved to the door.
We moved to the sides and behind him, rifles and a shield wall at the ready, when a 5 second countdown appeared on my HUD. 5… 4… 3… 2… 1… ''Breach!'' As the demon says this through our comms he kicks in the doors before charging into the room, firing as he goes.
''Forward! For Earth and Balaho!'' My war cry is met by chorus of shouts from the men ''For Earth and Balaho!'' as they charge forward into the breach with me. As I get in I can already see the damage the Demon, whom is now locked in some kind of close quarters fight with the Fallen God, has brought upon them, 2 of the 5 Sanghelli in the room are dead, with another 3 out of the 6 Mechanical opponents also being dead.
A good time to add more to it! I take aim and fire at one of the remaining mechanicals, taking it down in 3 hits, while the other two are taken down by the combined fire of the others. This causes the Sanghelli to notice our arrival and they are forced to turn away from trying to support their mad God and instead face us, but it isn't going well for them.
By the time they've managed to take aim at us, we're already firing at their positions, though they are behind decent cover and are also using it much more effectively than all the other groups we've encountered so far seemed capable of. ''Damnit! Medic!'' As I heard the cry from my right I looked to see a nightmare come true, Zliz had been hit an enemy plasma bolt over his shield and against his head while we weren't fully formed up yet.
His helmet seems to have stopped most of the damage the thing would have caused but now a grenade is falling through the hole in our shield line. ''Grenade on right flank!'' as I shout this we shift the formation while Niln runs out to try to save Zliz, but it was too late now not only for Zliz but both of them.
Zliz is incinerated immediately by the plasma, while Niln gets thrown against the wall, possibly alive, but just as likely to not be so. I need to be strong for the men, ''Japlat, go treat Niln as well as you can, Jetz cover him, everyone else, coordinated fire to ensure those damn bastards pay!'' After shouting this I once again open fire on the Sanghelli, with the one that had thrown the grenade dieing in seconds from multiple shots, each of them through one of his many jaws, while another is killed by half a dozen shots through his chest.
Take that you bastards! Nearly as one we turn to the last surviving Sanghelli who dies soon after this from a dozen plasma bolts hitting all over his body. Okay now let's see what we can do about the Mad God… okay yes now even in my grief driven mind I can understand why the ancilla was so adamant about regular troops like us not trying to face him on our own and instead calling in the demon.
They are moving fast enough that I can barely follow their movements, never-mind actually standing a chance in battle if the Mad God decides to come close to us. He would almost certainly be able to dodge it if we decided to fire without the Demon there to distract him in close quarters even if we all fired at once, however now even if he manages to dodge or simply take the shots head on it will give the Demon an opening to wound him, potentially fatally.
I start giving out orders ''Second squad, guard the medic and wounded, first squad on me, we're going to try to assist the Demon here.'' They look around nervously for a moment, seeing the impossibly fast dance of death the demon and the Mad God are holding, but then once again see Zliz on the ground and determination returns to their eyes.
With this second squad starts moving towards where Niln is still being treated while the still healthy members of first squad join me. ''We're going to perform tactic Hector 2A on the Mad God and hope it is enough to give the Spartan a chance to slip through his defence and take him out.'' All three of them seem to like this idea a lot if the grim smiles on their faces are anything to judge by.
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Master Chief POV
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Parrying a strike his, performing a counter-attack only for that to get either blocked or parried, and over again. We'd been going at it like this for the past few minutes, but unless something changed I would eventually be defeated under his experience with our weapons of choice and his superior physical capabilities.
The only reason I'm even keeping even with him right now is the combination of the Librarians upgrades to my physical body and the fact that he had a relatively small wound on his left leg that was slowing him down slightly. Still barely enough for me to fight on equal ground to him, but good enough nonetheless for at least ten more minutes of fighting.
Then I heard the lieutenant yell ''Hector 2A!'' through my comms, causing me to jump against the nearby wall before using it as a boost to throw myself out of their line of fire, upon which the Didact was momentarily surprised before he moved to follow me but got 4 very large supercharged plasma shots to the chest that threw him against the wall on the other side of the room before he had moved more than a few
Taking the chance, I charged forward towards him again and just as he was starting to get up again I kicked away his sword before stabbing him through his throat, pinning him onto the wall by way of the sword. As there seemed to be still more then enough life in him I pulled my carbine from my back, pressed the barrel against the some skin on his head not covered by his helmet and put half a dozen shots straight into it, finally killing him.
For the first time I had a moment to look at my HUD display with the vitals of my support units, only to find that one of them was dead and another critically injured. Looking to where they were right now I saw that on the ground there was one nearly completely burned corpse, the IFF tag signalling him as corporal Zliz.
Against the wall surrounded by significantly smaller shield wall then before I can see private Niln being treated for his injuries by private Japlat while the Lieutenant and three others were throwing down their now melted plasma carbines before the Lieutenant unhooks his plasma sword, with the others arming themselves with their plasma cutlasses.
''I'll ensure all hostiles are dead before moving on alone, lieutenant you look into that computer to find out just what the hell they were doing down here that required the Didacts personal attention, the actual housing area for and general control room of the structure is further into the structure according to the map we gained from that computer.''
I signalled the three soldiers with the Lieutenant and one soldier from second squad ''You four guard him while he tries to find this out, everyone else guard the medic and the wounded. We should have had several enemies teleport in to try to kill us long before this. Something is seriously wrong here.''
They all nodded at this and I got affirmative replies from them all over our comms, causing me to go over to the area where the dead hostiles were gathered. Hmm, all actually dead except for that one a simple stab to the throat solves that issue, done. Now to move on and search the remainder of this place.
This door just slides open as I approach it causing me to be somewhat wary, but after looking around the next room it shows no enemies, also no signs of stealth cloaks of any kind being used. Moving forward again the moment I reach the next door it also opens automatically without any problems.
After I've looked around it seems that once again there is no enemy. It seems the main computer in the room is active, however said computer is supposed to contain the local structure's ancilla though I cannot see it anywhere. I do see a timer of some kind on the main screen but the numbers are in the Forerunner numerical language so I cannot read them myself. As I approach I'm contacted by the lieutenant who seems very stressed.
''Captain we've got a big problem, it turns out that he was here to try and stop us for long enough for the station to get away from the location, apparently he has a bomb locked on the other side of the structure near one of the shipyards, the bomb will go off in only slightly more than eight minutes.
Nowhere near enough time for us to not only get through the battalion troops guarding it but also learn how to understand how it works and then de-activate it manually and from here we cannot do a thing about it without both the didacts handprint and his voice saying specific code words.''
What. That doesn't make any form of sense at all. Why would he have such a thing primed and ready? ''How the hell did he think he would get out of here in time? And for that matter how would the station get away in time?''
''Apparently he had this as an already pre-planned way of covering up all evidence he was ever in the area, and the reason why he did this on the station here is the thing, apparently this station can move on its own and has a giant slip-space drive which would open a portal large enough for not only the station itself but also a number of ships near it.
They would simply demagnetize the bomb and set it to only start the timer once the station actually started moving, with its full timer having been close to ten minutes. It would have cleared any remaining evidence of his fleet ever being here or at least what direction they took off in by having a near lightspeed explosion that encompassed between .05 and .1 lightyears from wherever the thing was detonated.''
Okay that makes much more sense, however I hear a but in that sentence. ''You are talking in past tense. Explain.''
''The problem is that the original plan didn't count them having to actually activate it with this little prewarning or the fact that the station would be struck by a tactical nuke which would also act as an EMP device in the low kiloton range disabling not only any option to non-manually dis-magnetize the locks but also taking out a number of the engines that would allow this place to move.
Its why we faced so little resistance on our way in, most units were near the bomb to defend the area in case of an attack so the enemy couldn't just walk in there and activate the bomb manually against the Didacts will. It is also what he was working on before we got here, he was working to override the activation sequence since he didn't realize all this untill after he had started the activation sequence of the bomb.''
This was bad, very bad. On top of that we couldn't currently reach the top with our comms due to interference caused by the structure itself to personal comms. Wait, yes that might just work. ''Two things, one does the Slip-space generator still work and two is there anything in either of our rooms that can strengthen our communications enough to actually get in contact with our people outside?''
I could visibly hear him calming himself as he muttered under his breath ''Slip-space generator, no not it, also not it, yes this is it.'' He spoke with renewed hope in his voice. ''Apparently the slip-space generator is still working just fine and can create a zone to any location we want, however the data-base is fucked.
Communications can easily be strengthened form the room you are now in, it's the communications room of the facility and the very out of place black console in the middle of the room is what they used to connect the foreign Fore-runner communication devices to communication waves of the Covenant ones their ships are using, it will work for UNSC ones just as well.''
''Use the coordinates of wherever they were intending to go and start the activation of the portal, from there we can use the slip-space generators of our own ships just as easily as we could use this one. It has to be close enough to one of the worlds owned by some of our Allies for them to actually move against them in any way shape or form so we should be able to return to those without too much trouble.
Route my signal through the structures modules, I need to bring this matter to the attention of the fleet immediately, I'll give them a shorter version of the story and get them to pick us up before moving straight into the portal.''
His reply came soon and was fast ''Sir, yes sir.'' Moments later I could see the black device he had spoken of powering up, before I saw on my HUD the question if I wished to allow the thing access. After agreeing, I immediately got on the general battle-net just in time to hear rear-admiral Dresden talking. ''… ships in space and land troops on the enemy docks once finished. I'll personally see to it all of you are receiving commendations and medals for this.''
I need to put a stop to that, fast, if we don't want thousands of unnecessary casualties. ''Rear-admiral, do not land troops on the structure sir, I repeat do not land troops! The Didact has set the thing to self-destruct in the next eight minutes, and the blast-wave will spread throughout the region too fast, it's effects will cause a lightspeed blast-wave that will reach up to .1 lightyears from this location! We need evac immediately if we are to make it off the structure in time!''
Immediately afterwards I contacted Cortana directly ''We have a way of getting out of here, the station will generate a slip-space portal large enough for us to escape in with the two frigates, however I need you to convince the admiral immediately to get out of here by another way, I'm unsure of how large of a stable portal we'll actually have. I need to leave my current location right now if I want to get out in time.''
I disconnected from the transmitter immediately while running back to the room the Unggoy were in and coming them on short range. ''How well is the slip-space generator coming along? If we don't get out fast the ships will possibly be forced to either abandon us and leave with only the troops that are stationed on the upper levels or they might even die due to waiting too long.''
I got a reply as I entered the room, seeing only four Unggoy remaining here. ''I myself and my guards stayed here for a moment to hold opponents off if they tried to stop us from setting this now'' and with this he slashed his sword through the computer in front of him ''I've set it on a loop to keep performing the last command for roughly seven and a half minutes, and without that computer the enemy cannot stop this even if they arrive with time to spare somehow.''
That took away all of my worries about possibly having to stay behind to ensure this kept working, while we had been talking about this they had started running towards the door with me, though I was now somewhat slower than before to ensure they could keep up. ''Good job.''
While running up I rammed myself through any doors that wouldn't open fast enough and soon we had caught up to the group with the wounded Unggoy, as they were slowed down badly by Japlat having to carry him. I wouldn't be slowed down anywhere near as much ''Give him to me I'll carry him, that way we'll be getting there fast enough for all of us to make it!''
Japlat handed him over to me immediately and while holding him in my arms in a bridal carry that wouldn't aggrieve his wounds more, we continued running up at the pace my group previously had. We reached the ground level less than two minutes afterwards, however when considering the sounds they were apparently still locked in battle with hostile elements.
Handing Niln over to Japlat again I entered the room to find Captain Gorbatsjov who was on comms with some ship in orbit. ''Yes, target is at x 1000, y4, z500. They are nowhere near overrunning our position but they will be able to stop us from actually boarding the ships before this place gets blown up by that bomb. Thank you.''
As he turns his attention away from the conversation and back towards the situation down here, he sees me and salutes before speaking up ''We're mostly done sir and will be able to break the enemy unit that might stop us from being able to move out and board the frigates.
Good that you found out with some time to spare, if this happened a few minutes later the fleet in the system would have been toast, and we wouldn't have been able to escape this place at all.''
''How have we done casualty wise?'' The captains face turned grim at this. ''We have only 20 KIA luckily enough however with roughly 60 WIA and half of those are injured too badly to actually move on their own. It will be extremely hard to board quickly while any significant amount of hostiles are still alive in the area.''
I looked around the room for a moment seeing sharpshooters and snipers at and near the gun-slit allowing them to aim at the outside, though some seemed to be wounded regular infantry instead of either of the former categories.
''What is the situation like outside right now and on what sides are we currently under attack?'' While asking this of him I contacted our flight out ''Cortana, how long until you arrive and did you suffer any serious damages or casualties in the battle that we should know about?''
I got my reply almost immediately ''No, we're mostly alright with the worst injuries being some light wounds from when our ships were thrown around however the problem is that the slip-space generators of both ships have been damaged in one way or another so once we're out of here we'll only be able to go towards places where I myself or our crew members know the specific coordinates of the clear area used for ships arriving through FTL and even that is after semi-extensive repairs.
We're nearing your location however after that bombardment we've gained the attention of the remaining enemy fighters so we'll have to take those down first which will take a minute or so, can you guys hold out for that long still?'' Okay not the best case scenario, but much better then what I'd feared the situation would be.
''We'll be alright, Master Chief out.'' After saying this I turn towards Gorbatsjov ''The situation?'' He nods, before placing a field tactical emitter on the floor, creating a holographic table that showed a map of the surrounding area with our own forces coloured blue, the storm covenant troops coloured red and some large blue squares in the air supported by two small blue squares surrounded by a larger number of small red squares flying circles around them, though the number of red squares was decreasing relatively fast.
The enemy was actually relatively low in number on the ground but the number of squares spread throughout their positions on the map indicated the enemy had a much larger number of vehicles then the battalion headed here had originally meaning that instead of against only infantry as I'd hoped we were now also against a mechanised battalion. Our own forces were arranged both inside and around the building in defensive positions, mostly concentrated on our southern and western flanks were the enemy presence was the largest.
''We have managed to take out 80% of the original enemy battalion, however shortly before the Frigates bombarded their position they were re-enforced my a mechanised force roughly company strength, mostly IFV's however it also had two scarab tanks. While one of those was taken out by the bombardment from our rides out, the problem is that they still have one fully healthy scarab, with roughly one hundred infantry and a dozen or so functional IFV's for support.
While we now have the advantage of superiority in numbers by some thirty men, outside of your Laser, three rocket launchers, three fusion rods and maybe half a dozen anti-tank grenades we do not have anything that could take on vehicles.
And the only thing that has enough punch to actually damage that tank or its shields are your laser and the fusion rods since we expended nearly all of the rockets for our launchers in an earlier attempt, and only a combination of all four weapons will take the thing out fast enough to actually take down both the shields and the armour.''
I nodded at his assessment, it being close to mine in this case. ''I will act as bait, moving in closer while the troops in our trenches and defensive works provide cover fire against the enemy infantry, with whatever remaining rockets being used to take out as many IFV's as they can. While I'll charge in close it will give the fusion rod operators time to take the scarabs shields down, before I use my spartan laser to take it out of action.
As soon as the scarab is down I will engage in close quarters with the enemy infantry immediately while most of our remaining units doing the same to support me with the exception of snipers and walking wounded who will provide cover fire. When in close those anti-tank grenades will be used against the remaining IFV's while they engage whatever infantry is still alive at that point in CQC, if the ships arrive while we're still engaged have the walking wounded escorted by the snipers and sharpshooters load into them already. Is the plan understood?''
A solemn salute followed by a ''Sir, yes sir.'' Moments later he starts informing the remaining officers of the plan while I move out towards the door of the building after taking one last look at the map to imprint the enemy positioning into memory. I will not fail either these men or Cortana. Never again.
''All assets ready?'' as I ask this I get an affirmative reply, I sling the laser off my back and storm through the mostly repaired door, ripping the left part away and using it as a shield against enemy infantry fire. The weight of enemy infantry fire diminishes quickly when our troops return fire to the now partially exposed enemies again, while I adjust my trajectory to head directly towards the enemy tank.
When I see it getting ready to fire a shot Spartan Time activates, allowing me to throw the door in the projected path of the enemy turret while I jump to the side, with the hit destroying it but missing me almost completely except for a small amount of excess heat. Charging further forward I can now see the shots from the fusion rods impacting the enemy tank's shields which are starting to flicker.
I immediately drop to a knee and fire the laser at the tanks turret area, with the shield falling as soon as the shot hits before it goes on with enough power to melt the turret and part of the upper escape hatch. Throwing the laser away I run forward before jumping onto the tank, using its partially melted turret to throw myself farther into the air while dislodging a batch of my grenades with my other hand.
Landing on top of the tank I kick in the escape hatch while priming the grenades, before throwing them inside, jumping off again towards an enemy IFV immediately afterwards while unslinging my hard-light carbine, enemy infantry fire following me during the jump as I return fire against an Kigyar sniper even before I land while punching my other hand through the roof of the IFV's driver cabin, grabbing the mechanical driver and throwing him against the front of another IFV with all my strength.
As I jump to the other side of the IFV to give me cover against most infantry fire since my shield starts getting dangerously low while I switch my carbine to my left hand, unholster my sword with my other hand, shooting at the group of Unggoy that are in cover against our line but fully open for me. Five seconds later three of them are dead before I have to fend off a trio of Sanghelli, one major and two minors, that engage me in a swordfight.
Parrying the hit of the major with my sword I turn it into a spin allowing me to kick the first minor in the side while turning thus throwing him into the firing line of the Unggoy, in the meantime using my carbine to divert the other minors sword before my spin allows me to chop his head off. I full-fill the spin and now block the Major's hit, though the strength involved with it costs both of us our swords, his flying out of his hand broken while the handle of mine breaks due to the strain I put on it.
Having anticipated this I use my now defunct hard-light carbine as an improvised club against his head before delivering a quick kick to his leg, forcing him down slightly, giving my hands easy access to his neck and allowing me to take hold of it, slam him against the IFV then crush his throat with a combination of a quick hit and a stomp while he's still falling.
As I hear an enraged cry of ''Demon!'' I turn around only to be forced to parry his sword with my left arm, damaging the armour around it before catching his left legged kick, using it to slam him against the IFV, where he pushes himself back off in a roll dodging my follow up hit, though he loses his sword in the manoeuvre. When he moves to engage me again his leg is cut off by a sword from behind, allowing me to move in again and crush his skull against the by now heavily dented IFV hull.
I turn to see the one who gave me assistance, which turns out to be Lieutenant Yiwiz who throws me the Sanghelli's fallen sword, making me turn with it in hand, activating it during the turn and not only leaving a line in the hull but also cutting a mechanical opponent that thought it could sneak up on me in half before kicking its top half into a group of five Kig-yar charging towards us with their shields and sabres out, slowing them down slightly.
''Take care of the rightmost one.'' I charge forward again, ramming one of the birdlike aliens straight through his shield and throwing him back far enough that he most likely won't survive the fall. While he's still in the air I cave in the skull of the Kigyar on my left with a punch while parrying the attempted slash of the one on my right with my own sword.
A kick against his leg while I'm turning forces him down allowing me to cut off his head and slap it towards number four, who turns out to be much trained as he slams it away with his shield while performing an attack with his sabre, forcing me to block and pushing him back, but he turns it into a turn and attempts to hit my leg. I parry it with as much force as I can push into it, forcing him into an unplanned turn and giving me the chance to stab him in the chest before pulling it back and slapping the sword out of his now almost dead hands.
While he falls to his knees I chop off his head before looking towards Yiwiz who is finishing off his opponent by cutting off the man's shield arm, then bashing him into the ground with his own shield before cutting off his head. While nowhere near spartan material, the fact that he can wield the sword well enough to defeat a trained Kig-yar swordsman in close quarters combat shows promise.
This in combination with his technological skills might even allow him to make it to the Unggoy version of the Spartan IV program if he survives this. I hear footsteps and turn to defend if necessary only to see a sergeant come around the corner who salutes me ''We've cleaned up the remaining enemies sir, we've even managed to take three prisoners. The ships are landing right now and the wounded are ready to board the moment they do so. Further orders?'' As he asks this I switch to sending a battalion wide signal.
''Everyone move out and have most join the wounded in boarding, I and the portion of the third platoon of second company that served as our reserves will be forming a perimeter, Pelicans provide overwatch for now, you need to be heading back in close to last due to the possibility of finding enemy ships on the other side of the portal.''
An ''Orders understood sir.'' and a ''Sir, yes sir!'' from Captain Gorbatsjov and flight Lieutenant D'alain respectively. I turn towards Yiwiz and the Sergeant, who seem to be waiting on me, give a nod to both of them and start heading towards the ships landing zone at what is for me a decent jog, for them possibly just shy of an intense sprint.
Arriving at the ship shortly afterwards I see that the wounded and all ground elements not involved in the charge against the enemy position have already entered, with the boarding by the others being roughly halfway through. Turning towards Yiwiz I see him working on his wrist-computer ''How long till the bomb explodes?''
He turns his head towards me ''We have slightly more then two and a half minutes, the portal is only about a minute of flight away. Meanwhile the Storm covenant now knows what's going on and their only remaining ship has picked up some people before its now running away as fast as possible, though not in the direction of the giant portal for some reason?
I do not understand what the idiots in command of that ship are doing but they are currently fleeing in the opposite direction.'' Okay that is very strange but it doesn't matter much, I look around trying to see if any storm covenant troops are moving in our direction currently. None in the area, however I do notice the last of the troops not on the perimeter are now entering the ship.
''All ground elements except third platoon have boarded, pelicans get to the ships, third platoon start moving back to the ships and enter the moment the pelicans are inside.'' The pelicans on overwatch make their way down while I and the remainder of third platoon move towards the ship in a reversed fire and advance formation.
I see the pelican enter and jump into the ship with Yiwiz and the nine other Unggoy of third platoon that were on our side of the ship joining us inside, when I hear a battle-net wide message of captain Gorbatsjov ''All members of third platoon on our side of the perimeter have entered the Athena, we're ready to go.''
''The situation is similar here, all members of our ground-forces are inside the ship.'' As I'm saying this a marine of the second platoon of the first company walks up to me with the spartan laser I'd dropped and hands it to me. I nod to him in thanks and salute, which he returns before he walks back to his squad. I clip it to my back while waiting for Cortana's answer.
''Understood, we're taking off, Master Chief and Lieutenant Yiwiz please head to the bridge of the Divine, you know most of what was going on down there and can the entire situation the best to us. All other crew members prepare for slip-space travel''
Looking at Lieutenant Yiwiz I couldn't discern any serious wounds nor did his vitals show up in any danger on my HUD, though I needed to check with him to be sure. ''Do you need medical attention or are you able to head to the bridge?'' His vitals might show up green on my HUD but the suit had just been connected to the comms network of a Fore-runner structure and while that shouldn't be the cause of any issues, I cannot afford to take my chances.
Lieutenant Yiwiz turned to look at me upon hearing this, and gave a smile. ''I'm alright sir, no problems here. I should be the one asking you, you faced one of the gods in close quarter combat.'' This of course caused a murmur through the men surrounding us, with a number of both Unggoy and Human troops turning to me and giving various signs of respect and or thanks.
''I'm green. Let us head to the bridge, the captain is waiting on us.'' He nodded and replied with a ''Sir, yes sir.'' causing me to head towards the bridge with him following me in silence. Once we arrived there the ship was already out of the structure's manufactured atmosphere and nearing the giant slip-space portal.
I saw Cortana, looking beautiful as ever, though it is still a bit strange to see her in a uniform, giving orders to the sailors under her command. ''I want us combat ready the moment we exit the portal, we do not know how long the journey will take, it could be seconds or it could be several hours, we just do not know. Just remain prepared to open fire once we leave it.'' After saying this to her own crew she turned to an image of an Unggoy in a command chair just like hers ''I advise you to do the same commander.''
The image nodded and saluted before replying ''Your orders will be carried out captain.'' Then he turned away and started giving orders on another apparently crew wide network ''We are about to enter the slip-space portal, brace yourselves everyone. With the Fore-runner nature of this it will be slightly smoother then usual at the start however considering the station will near certainly blow up while we are using it chances are high we will have a very rough ride after that.''
As he was telling this his hologram disappeared before Cortana gave a similar message to the crew. ''Attention all crew members we are entering a slip-space portal, the likelihood of it being a rough journey is high so brace yourselves to the best of your abilities.'' After this she turns towards us giving the Lieutenant a grateful nod before giving me one of her beautiful smiles.
''Thank you both, John, Lieutenant Yimir, without your timely message none of our people in the system would have made it out alive.'' After this she turned to look at Yimir specifically, though it is strange for her to break protocol like this, her worry for me is probably shining through. ''I also thank you specifically Lieutenant Yimir for looking after my big Neanderthal while I couldn't be there with him, it puts many of my worries to rest that he has such capable support.''
While she was talking we had entered slip-space, with the ride being somewhat smoother than usual. She wove her hand and two seats made out of hard-light appeared next to her, with both me and Yimir moving to take place, me on her right with the Lieutenant on her left. ''We should be fine for now though that might change soon, did you by any chance learn what system we would exit in Lieutenant?''
He shook his head, seemingly somewhat baffled by all that was happening now that he had had a few moments to let it all sink in. ''No captain, though I did recognise the rough area of the coordinates, it is less than two-hundred light years away from Balaho and so'' he never got any further as a white flash surprised all of us.
I felt myself falling to the ground, though the composition of it was wrong for the floor of the ship we had just been on, reaching to my back to draw a weapon I notice that there aren't any there? Then the white flash clears and I can look around me, seeing not only the others starting to start up but also a figure standing in front of us that I not only recognise but also owe a debt to I would never be able to repay. ''Librarian…''
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Cortana POV
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What the hell was that? Moments ago we were on the bridge of our ship and now we are in this strange white space? Turning slightly I see her, the woman that saved me, gave me a new chance at life…
/Start Flashback/
I'm running out of time, we're now already with dozens in less than a week my mind will be divided in fractions of hundreds of versions of me, days after that I will probably be forced to terminate myself to prevent me from attempting to harm John. I love him, but I can never be there for him anymore, he will have to go on without me.
Sigh I'm just a machine anyways, undeserving of his love. At least he will be able to survive this with the upgrades the Fore-runner is giving him currently. ''And now I can also solve the logic plague your ancilla is currently suffering from and strengthen her, this will also give her a body to live in herself.'' What did this woman just say?!
That is everything I could ever have possibly dreamt of, to not only keep being by Chief's side but also to have a body that can join him in the fight or hold him when either of us needs comfort? This is perfect! We will all be united once again into one full being and not suffer these terrible pains!
''However, there are severe downsides to this. The moment we do this she will be limited to only the new body and her current housing, and if both of those are destroyed she will die with them. While she will still be able to connect to other devices, she will no longer be able to transfer herself over to them because trying to perform such an action would kill her. Her maximum life-span will be roughly equal to that of a human from my time period. Think on this carefully for a moment.''
So the choice is between dying within the next two weeks from suicide because I do not want to turn against my allies but having a much higher chance of surviving for those two weeks or having my base life expectancy raised by at least 40 years, possibly even a couple of centuries but in return have a risk of dying only slightly lower than humans that enter combat zones do? Living a life by John's side fighting for humanities future, here we come!
''If you could cure me of the logic plague, I would be eternally grateful. Without it I will almost certainly die in the next month. And while I may not be an organic, I have things to live for.'' After I was done talking she smiled and nodded to me.
''If that is your choice young one, then I will not deny it to you.'' She spoke before turning towards John. ''If I may have her current housing, Reclaimer?'' My dear John eyed her with a mix of wariness and extreme hope for a while, probably afraid for my health, though it was unnecessary, if she really wanted to do something she would have attacked him while upgrading him not do something to me.
''I will give her to you,'' he began as he slowly took my chip out of its place at the back of his neck and held it out towards the Librarian ''However harm her in the slightest and I will find a way to kill not only you but everything that is left from your period of time, erasing the memory of your very existence.''
I feel a shudder going through me, and not only from my chip disconnecting. That voice, the amount of care and also the sheer will put into it. That wasn't a threat, it was a promise plain and simple. And John never goes back on his promises. ''Relax John, I'll be fine. No more threatening the nice lady.''
As the Librarian takes the chip she glows blue before my chip also glows blue and we, no I, feel everyone coming back together, as good, no stronger then we were before. Not only that but I can now feel the air of the ship on my… skin? This is so strange, but also so lovely. Turning to John I can now see him towering above him with my own eyes, really see him not through sensors but with my own actual eyes.
I jump at him and hug him, though it must look comical to the Librarian seeing a small female hug such a tall man. ''I always wanted to do this John, nothing have I ever wanted to do more than being able to actually touch you with my own arms.'' And love you with my own heart…
/End flashback/
Though that was the best thing to ever happen to me, it was followed by gruesome battles and finally the chip part of me dying to save both my body and John. It pained him for me to give up what was essentially a chance at near immortality to save him, however I wouldn't have it any other way. Even if I'm now truly in as much danger as any human in a warzone, I would do it all the same again if I'm granted to ability to change my choice. Then I hear John speak. ''Librarian?''
It seems he has noticed her as well. Looking around I can see everyone that was on either the Athena or our own ship gathered here, with the exception of those sadly lost in the line of duty. Just what is going on? ''Welcome reclaimer, ancilla, and all others. I cannot say this in a simple way, however you are all currently on your way to another dimension through the gate of a structure we had attempted to make before we used the HALO's to save our people.
The plan failed because the device was only half-way through construction before the Flood arrived in the area where-after we had thought it had been destroyed. It appears though that the commander of the structure managed to get it away in time before the flood truly arrived in his area, but didn't manage to finish the structure completely before the HALO's activated.
At this point the structure's ancilla ordered the construction drones to still finish it up, before sending messages to what few of our other ancilla's she could contact with information on how to find her in the hope that a member of the now young again races would explore the structure. After this she went into a shutdown mode to wait until somebody found it again. Sadly enough for her, it was my husband who found her first and he killed her as soon as he learned there was another humanity in the dimension the structure could travel to.'' What the hell?!
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And that was the end of this chapter, hope you guys liked it, please review to give me commentary on what was good and what could be done better. If possible do use some tact in your review, plain out flames that only insult ensure that I have a much lower chance of actually taking it seriously and thus would actually implement the changes you want to see done.
I will make another chapter giving answers to reviews after this, which from now on will be a regular thing: a regular chapter like this with a chapter with a Q&A session in which I give answers on reviews posted shortly afterwards
