A/N: Happy New Year!

Ch. 7: Battle Plans

Thel Vadamee stepped off his Phantom at the recently established command post in what the humans called New Alexandria. The Covenant on site had done a superb job of holding the line against the humans, who have not been active, and the Borg, who is constantly attacking.

The recently arrived weapons from the Enterprise have, Thel will admit, helped in pushing back the Borg's advances. There have been few accidents, and fewer casualties from the Borg. Most only Jiralhanae that became enraged and decided to defeat the Borg without a weapon, even without one of their filthy gravity hammers.

Thel walked into the operations hub of the base, and found fellow Sangheili hard at work, directing orders and preparing for attacks. One of them noticed Thel and announces his presence, and the Sangheili all stand at attention. Thel nods and relieves them, and they get back to work.

The officer in command, Sangheili Ultra Rtas Vadumee, approached Thel.

"Report." Thel said

"The Borg are being handled, currently, and the humans have not come out of their holes that we have seen. Their weapons have been crucial in holding back the Borg."

Thel admired Rtas for openly complimenting the humans' weaponry. Even though they have been losing the war for nearly thirty years, they knew how to make good guns. It was just the lack of good guns in space that lost them the war.

An alarm went off, and several Sangheili rushed around.

"That's the air radar!" Rtas said. "Something is flying towards us at great speed!" He turned to one of the technicians. "Get me an image!"

The image of the ship in question appeared on a hologram projector in the center of the room.

"Cancel your alert, Ultra." Thel said. "This ship is an ally."

Rtas called of the alarm, but he still looked confused. "Fleet Master? What makes you so sure that this alien ship is friendly?"

"Because I was on it half an hour ago." Thel said coldly.

That was a good enough answer for Vadumee, who nodded and walked to check on something.

Satisfied, Thel walked out of the command room, bumping into a Jiralhanae in the hallway. Thel snarled at him.

"Pathetic Sangheili." The Jiralhanae said. "You sit here cowering in this room hiding behind display screens while we soldiers spill our blood to protect you. What is your motto of your generals? 'Victory is secured, not from the throne, but from the front lines.'"

If Thel had not restrained himself, he would have run the Jiralhanae through right then and there.

"You forget your place." Thel growled. "Who was it that led you through these victories? Who aided you from space when your battle on the planet went ill? Who has been a vital part of the Covenant since its creation? And ask yourself this as well: where were you when this was happening?" Thel turned and walked down the hallway. He heard a growl from the Jiralhanae, and from the sound of it, he wanted Thel to hear it.

Thel walked out of the base to the front line, where Covenant were scrambling to deliver weapons and ammunition to those who needed it. The Borg were casually walking toward his brothers, most getting gunned down a long ways off. The closest one get was maybe one hundred feet before a Kig-yar put a bullet between its eyes.

Thel stooped next to a Sangheili body, examining the cause of death. Thel found bullet holes in his brother's chest, thought no humans were found to cause the damage. Next to the Sangheili's post stood a Jiralhanae, firing the same weapon that was most likely used to kill Thel's brother.

Thel put his hand on the Jiralhanae's shoulder and whipped him around.

"Jiralhanae," He growled. "Explain the death of this Sangheili."

The Jiralhanae looked dumbly at the body. "A Borg got to him."

"Then explain the bullet holes in his chest. The truce demanded sides keep to themselves, so it couldn't have been a human."

"A Borg got to this one, and I had to shoot into the Sangheili to kill the Borg."

Thel knelt down and checked for puncture marks. There were none. Snarling, Thel brought out his energy sword and put it at the scum Jiralhanae's neck.

"Listen, scum. If I find out that you killed my brother, I will save no mercy for you. Your death shall be slow and painful."

Several of the Jiralhanae's brethren grabbed Thel and tore him away. Thel's energy sword happened to graze the Jiralhanae in question, but he acted like it had run him through.

The Jiralhanae restraining Thel threw him on the ground and aimed their weapons at him. Seeing their brother about to perish, three Sangheili leaped to assistance, one jumping on a Jiralhanae's back and the others tackling the rest. More and more Jiralhanae and Sangheili joined the brawl, leaving Unggoy and Kig-yar to hold the line

After the brawl, there were three more Sangheili dead than Jiralhanae.

And so the Great Schism began.


Data walked with the Captain Picard and Commander Riker to the transporter room. They were beaming down to the Pillar of Autumn to give a mutual briefing to the team of SPARTANS that had arrived from New Alexandria.

Upon beaming down, they found the Pillar of Autumn in a flurry of communication, weapons, supplies and people. Data expected no less from the recently established COMMAND on the planet.

An aid found them and escorted them to the meeting room, where six, six foot SPARTANS and Keyes sat in military uniform. Data studied all of their faces, most painted with scars and other signs of battle. The tallest stood at six and a half feet.

Keyes regarded the Enterprise representation. "SPARTANS, this is Captain Picard, Commander Riker, and Lieutenant Commander Data. Captain, we have Noble Team, Carter, Kat, Jun, Emile, and…your name escapes me, lieutenant." The nameless lieutenant did not make a comment. "Noble six, then." Keyes said. "And last we have John, not a member of Noble team."

The SPARTANS saluted the envoy. Picard waved them down and they sat. Emile put his feet on the table.

"I'm sure you're shocked from our recent alliance with the Covenant." Picard said.

"How could we make an alliance with an enemy we've fought for a third of a century?" Kat said.

"That's what I thought." Keyes said. "But, we are acting in humanity's best interest. We do not have the necessary manpower to hold back the entire Borg armada, so we have given the Covenant the firepower to assist us in repelling the Borg on the ground. The orbital defenses are holding back the Borg in space, and will be assisted by the remaining fleet when it finished repairs. One ship has already finished, with two expecting completion within the day."
Picard turned to Carter. "What is the extent of Borg presence in the city you were just at?"

"The Borg have come in great numbers, though the bulk of their forces engaged Noble team. We were almost overtaken, but the timely arrival of the Master Chief greatly assisted us. We have not been given an update on the forces that are still in New Alexandria; we were taken here soon after the Borg were cleared out."

Picard turned to Data. "Mr. Data, did you take a scan of Borg lifesigns in New Alexandria when we were on the Enterprise?"

Data accessed his memory banks, trying to find the record of his scanning and the result. The process took .006 seconds. Data paused to give the humans the impression that he was thinking. "I scanned a total of seven hundred and sixty thousand Borg drones in the city of New Alexandria alone. The Borg severely outnumber the military personnel stationed there."

"Suggestions?"

"Do the Borg have any weaknesses?" Carter asked.

"If we knew they had a weakness, I don't think we would have made the alliance with the Covenant." Jun said. Noble Six nodded.

"The only advantage we know of is that the Borg energy shields do not absorb any ballistics projectile: bullets." Riker said. "But seeing that your forces are 'severely outnumbered', we don't have the manpower to take it back by force."

"The Borg gain power over their opponents by adapting to the tactics of their opponents, making the strategies used null." said Picard. "That would allow them to walk in and assimilate all the technology they don't know into their Collective."

"So we might as well evacuate the city." Kat said.

"What to do with the city itself? We can't leave it and let the Borg assimilate the technology there." The tallest Spartan, John, said. He looked as if he were too tall for the chair.

"We might have too basic technology for the Borg to be interested in." Emile said.

"What kind of military facilities are in the city?" Riker asked.

"There are several shipbuilding companies and weapons manufacturing companies headquartered with facilities." Keyes answered.

"I suggest we systematically purge the facilities of their technological importance."

Carter shook his head. "It'll take too much time. And there are too many Borg to deal with it."

"We could blow it up." Jun said, not serious.

Emile took his feet off the table and everyone looked at Jun.

Data thought. It was a valid strategy. Eliminate both the technologies and the Borg at the same time. But the cost was a whole city. They had to let the Covenant know, assuming they agree to the evacuation.

Picard pondered the idea. "It could work."

"How'd we do it?" Riker asked.

"We have a class of nuclear bomb that will take something the size of New Alexandria out." Keyes said.

"Data, is there a place in the city where the explosion would destroy as much as possible?" Picard asked.

"I do not have the sufficient information to make that decision Captain. I would need the payload of the explosive and to take detailed scans of the city. It will take me no more than thirty seven minutes, seventeen seconds."

"Very well. Mr. Data, I want you to beam back to the Enterprise and make that scan."

Data nodded. "At once sir." Data stood and walked out of the room. He tapped his combadge and told O'Brien that he was ready to be beamed back.


Keyes was surprised at how little resistance there was from the SPARTANS about the Alliance. It might have helped that "follow orders" has been written into their DNA about a dozen times.

John was giving the congregation a briefing on their current tactical standing. So far, there wasn't much change. The Borg are being held back with little to no casualties.

"We have received reports, however, of acts of violence breaking out in the Covenant camps between Elites and Brutes. The extent of the violence is brutal, its almost a rampage. I'm surprised it was limited to Elites and Brutes."

"It might be a blood feud." picard suggested.

"Do we have any previous indications that might explain these acts?" Keyes asked.

John shoook his head. "We know very little about Covenant society or socialogy. The ones that we have captured either refused to talk or killed themselves before they could be questioned."

The queit Lieutenant spoke: "Brutes are the epitome of arrogance. The only time they'll lower their noses is to shoot at you. Only a little bit. The Elites are what you'd call the perfect officer. They are hard-working, loyal to their subordinates, and they will follow orders when directed. But all in all, they act for the good of Elites or the Covenant."

"You sure know a lot compared to how much your intelligence probably has." Riker observed.

Emile chuckled. "That's hard to top, Commander."

"How do you know this, Six?" Kat asked.

"I've fought them enough. When you kill countless numbers of these things, you begin to understand them."

"If that's the case, we should all be freaking psychologists. John's been fighting these sons of bitches longer than us, he'd have a better understanding of them than you."

"I was too busy killing them to get a sufficient psychological profile." John stated.

"You've hardly fought brutes before this morning, Lieutenant." Kat continued. "You expect us to believe you?"

"That's enough, Kat." Keyes said, raising a hand. "It is true that the conditions of Noble six's diagnosis is unlikely, but its the best we've got."

"Actually," Picard said. "I might have an even better diagnosis." He tapped his combadge. "Picard to Troi."

"Troi here, Captain." A deep, sexy voice said.

"What is your profile on that alien that was on the Enterprise earlier? Fleet Master Vadamee?"

"His kind holds honor in a very high place, almost as high as their respect for their leaders. If those leaders would lose that respect his kind hold, then the consequences would, i would say, either open rebellion or disassossiation with the Covenant."

"Which do you think is more likely? The Elites rebelling or leaving the Covenant" Picard asked.

"Well, along with that honor came a large amount of rivalry and almost hatred for another race of beings, but i couldn't give it a name. If the desicion that lost the respect of the Elites, if that's what we're calling them, were associated with their rivals, then first i would project that they take their revenge on their rivals and then leave the Covenant, effectively spitting on the face of their masters."

"Thank you, Counselor. Picard out."

Noble Six nodded slightly.

"So we might expect Elite refugees seeking shelter." Keyes said. "I'll brief the men." Keyes rose.

"Hold on, Captain." Riker said. "If captain Picard told me that we were taking in and feeding a hated enemy that we've been fighting for half our lives, I would be pretty damn mad. Do you honestly expect the common soldier to obey your orders without quetsion, and greet the killers of their friends and family with a warm smile and open arms?"

"I'm not telling the men to live with them, I'm telling them to expect their arrival and not to open fire. The most we might do is give them supplies, and that's pushing it. The best i would allow is them setting up a line farther away from the other Covenant and away from us. They can hold their own in a fight. Isn't that right, Six?"

"Yes sir." Six said with a possible hint of annoyance.

"Satisfied, Riker?" Keyes asked.

"For the moment." Riker said.

Keyes nodded. "Very well!"

"When Commander Data returns with the techninal scans, we can finalize the plans for this operation. But it needs a name." Picard said.

"The last operation was OPERATION:UPPERCUT." said Keyes. "That ended with a strategic victory but resulted in a great loss. I would call this OPERATION:COMEBACK."

"I don't think anyone has anything better than that." When no one did, Keyes filed the plan as OPERATION:COMEBACK.


End Ch. 7

So yeah. Long time no see. Last year acutally. Funny how we can say that only for about two weeks out of the year.

Again, I'm sorry that this is out so late. I've had a lot of awesome presents for christmas, and they've been keeping me busy at night and last week. If you guys are wondering, I'll give you my Xbox gamertag and my Battlenet username. JUst in case you guys wanna hit me up on that, let me know in a review or something. Surprise me. Drop me a review for opinions on the story or this chapter. Until next time!~

BattleNet - WiNg

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