A/N: Sorry this chapter took so long to post, but it was not an easy one to write. But I hope it was worth the wait and that you enjoy it.

Now, I know many of you have been asking me when the UNSC "Death Star" will make its appearance in the story. All I will say for now is that it will appear and I do intend to have it in action. But for now please be patient, okay?

But enough of this for now. On to the STORY!

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( Operation Round Hammer )

Space, a vast and relatively empty expanse which goes on forever in any and all directions. An hostile environment that is home to hundreds of millions of galaxies, with an equal amount of worlds that existed within them. Home to civilizations both great and small, some lasting for thousands of years, some that were only now either now starting realize their true potential for greatness. While many more had the dubious honor of being the graves of empires whose influence and power would never be known by the civilizations that were to come after them.

If one were ever able to see this infinite expanse of celestial bodies for themselves, they would almost think that it were beautiful, and they would not be far off from their assumption. The site of millions upon millions of galaxies floating around in this black void, could be considered a beautiful sight indeed. But sadly, this beauty only masked reality that many inhabitants of the universe were forced to endure and for the inhabitants of one such galaxy, the dangers were about to become all too real.

For the peace that so many had sacrificed so much to achieve, was now nothing more than a distant memory and an empire that had visions of conquering the galaxy, were about to face off with another galactic power that were not only from another galaxy, but were hell bent on retribution for this empire's act of aggression against its people.

Operation Round Hammer, as it had been dubbed, would be the UNSC's first major operation of the conflict. An operation that had come about thanks in large part to the covert operation under gone by the Central Bureau of Military Intelligence and their discovery of the Empire's newest "Super" weapon. Thanks to the efforts of the CBMI, the UNSC was now poised to deal the Empire an deadly blow.

Or at least that was what Commodore Lustral hoped, as he stood within the command and control center of his flagship and went over his plan to destroy the Empire's massive cannon. His plan called for a surprise attack on the Imperial fleet that was escorting the Gun towards Terran controlled space, utilizing the eighty plus "LCVs" that had been assigned to his fleet.

Using their cloaking abilities, these vessels would literally sneak up on the enemy fleet and deploy their payload of MTN-8 (HYDRA 8) missiles against the enemy fleet, as well as the Gun itself. Once the enemy fleet was crippled Lustral, along with the rest of his fleet would engage the remaining Imperial vessels. With his and several other cruisers engaging the Galaxy Gun itself and destroying it outright in case the the initial attack failed to destroy it.

Currently the UNSC fleet had been split into two groups, just as Lustral's plan had called for. The eighty LCV's had broken away from the main force had formed up into eight smaller groups, ten vessels per group. It would be these small and nimble vessels that would be leading the charge for the UNSC's first combat operation of the war and it was a task that their crews were more than eager to carry out.

"Commodore, long range sensors are picking up numerous spacial anomalies. Energy reading match those of Imperial capital ships." the cruiser's artificial intelligence informed Lustral, as his image appeared on a near by projector.

"How many of these anomalies are you picking up, Warner?" the Commodore asked his vessel's A.I.

The hologram seemed to hesitate a bit before he replied, "Six hundred, sir."

"Six... hundred?" Lustral replied, surprised by the number that was given to him by Warner. Even though the commodore had been briefed about the Galaxy Gun and that it was almost always escorted by Imperial warships, Lustral was still taken aback by the shear number of vessels that the Empire had committed to protecting their super weapon. "What is the status of Speedbird?"

'Speedbird' was the code name given to the LCV detachment that were currently en route towards the Imperial force.

"Speedbird is currently on course towards the enemy fleet." Warner replied, as the holographic display in front of the commodore began to show highlighted icons that represented both the Imperial fleet and the LCVs "At their current speed, they shall intercept enemy force in twenty minutes. Do you want me to contact the lead flight and inform them of this recent development?"

"Negative Warner." Lustral replied. "They are currently running silent, any attempt to co contact them could alert the Imperials to there presence."

"So what do you suggest?" the artificial intelligence questioned the UNSC commodore.

"Contact the captains of the Obama and the Makin Island." Lustal ordered, referring to the two super carriers that were present in his task force. "Tell them to have their birds on stand by and armed with Harpoons. We just might need to level the playing field as quickly as possible if the first wave fails."

"Understood, sir." Warner replied as his image blinked out of existence, so as to carry out the Commodore's orders. Leaving Lustral to ponder his next move for what could be a brutal engagement between the United Nations Space Command, and the Imperial Navy.

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( Imperial Fleet)

There were no words that could describe the absolute sense of pride that a one Umak Leth was feeling at that very moment, as the chief imperial engineer made his way through the corridors of his latest and greatest engineering masterpiece. The Galaxy Gun was the apex of his long and storied career in both the Republic and the Galactic Empire, and it was a feat that gave him his current euphoric feeling.

It was just a few short years ago that the Emperor himself, had listened to Leth's proposal for a super weapon that could not only strike at the Empire's enemies from long distances, but could also deal them a most devastating blow in one shot. The Emperor was very much in support of developing such a weapon for the the Imperial military and after so many years of construction, the Galaxy Gun was born and was ready for its first deployment. A deployment that had seen the destruction of an outpost that the UNSC called Truk.

It was the Galaxy Gun that had fired the first shot in a and now, this super weapon of unimaginable power was now en route to another location where it would be used to strike at the very seat of the Terran influence in the Galaxy. If all went well the Terrans would never know what hit them and by the time they did, Worth would have become the latest in a line of star systems to fall under the might of the Galactic Empire. With the Terrans expelled from the galaxy and both the CIS as well as the Terran protected worlds, would not last too long on their own.

But even though Leth had absolute confidence in his creation and that his weapon of mass destruction was all but invincible, there was still one major flaw in its design. Or rather, in it's construction. The Emperor was so eager to have his new weapon deployed, that construction of the Galaxy Gun was rushed and as a result, many of the elements that would have made the weapon even more effective, had either yet to be installed, replaced with inferior components, or were just left out of the construction process completely.

Even the hyper drive engines that were currently being used to propel the massive cannon, were not the ones that were originally selected for it. But so far the weapon had performed splendidly and there was no doubt in anyone's mind that it would perform just as well when it arrived at its next firing location. But as Leth continued to walk and inspect his greatest creation to date, the engineer was completely unaware that there were elements that were just just minutes away from thrusting him and his super weapon into the first battle of the war.

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( LCV-990, "Speedbird 17")

"How long until we have a firing solution?" Commander Stepson asked, as she stood in front of her vessel's small holographic display table and monitored the progress of not only her LCV, but the eighty plus vessels that currently made up Speedbird.

It was just a few hours ago that her vessel, along with many others like it, broke away from the main task force and plotted an intercept course towards the Imperial fleet. But no sooner had they had gotten into sensor range of the enemy force, the crews of these relatively small vessels soon realized that the information they had been given about the Imperials, was wrong. For where they had expected only about eighty warships, they were now encountering a force that was almost eight times that number. But if one were not already in awe at this development, then they certainly were when they got a look at the massive vessel that was in the center of the formation.

It was just like what the reports had stated, a giant cannon that was much larger than anything the UNSC currently had in the galaxy and judging by the amount of turbo blaster turrets the "vessel" had, it was very clear to see that this thing was more than capable of defending itself from conventional attacks. But then again, the LCVs of the United Nations Space Command were never designed for conventional warfare.

For while most UNSC vessels were designed to engage enemy ships at long range, the Eagle-class was made to get up close and personal with enemy capital ships, and deal them a deadly blow in the form of nuclear tipped missiles. Coupled with their cloaking abilities and speed, it was very clear to see just why these vessels were chosen for this mission.

Splitting into eight smaller groups, (Just as planned), the LCVs began to mark their targets. Six groups would be responsible for taking care of the Imperial fleet at large, while the remaining two would engage the Galaxy Gun itself. They were not going to take any chances and allow this weapon to get away.

"We shall be in in firing range in 2.25 minutes, commander." Hotaru replied, as her holographic form stood next to the image of an Imperial Star Destroyer.

"Let me know when we are in range. I want to be able to say that I killed an Imperial vessel on my first combat mission." Rebecca said with a smile. But on the inside, the naval office was more than a little bit concerned about the welfare of both her vessel and crew. Even though the officer had the up most confidence in her crew and their abilities, the commander could not help but to feel a bit uneasy about the mission, especially since they were sometimes just meters away from colliding with an Imperial vessel and blowing the formation's cover.

All that the young woman could do at that moment, was wait for the order to attack to come in. At least the Eagle's cloaking ability was doing its job of preventing detection. But what ever sense of security and comfort Rebecca had was quickly swept away, when a flash of light out of the corner of her eye, caught the officer's attention.

"Commander! We've lost contact with number sixty-two!" a crew member called out from his station.

"Confirmed!" Hotaru replied, her voice sounding a more urgent than usual. "Scan show that LCV-062 has collided with an Imperial cruiser. The vessel has been completely destroyed."

"And I am guessing that the rest of the Imperial fleet as taken notice as well?" Rebecca muttered under her breath, a hint of frustration could be heard in the officer's voice. A slight nod, coupled with a small frown on Hotaru's face, confirmed her worst fear. "I guess things are about to get very difficult for us."

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"What the hell is going on?" Umak exclaimed, as he practically ran into the Galaxy Gun's command center and questioned the first officer that he saw.

"Sir, one of our vessels have reported a collision with some kind of stealth vessel." an officer by the name of Roen replied, as he stood in front of the many consoles there and began to read the information that was coming in.

"Stealth... ship...?" Leth questioned, as his mind began to place two and two together. But before the weapon's designer could react to the situation, Roen spoke up once again and said frantically, "Sir! Sensors are picking up multiple contacts! Terrans!"

Umak was at a complete loss for words as the news that the Terrans had not only managed to infiltrate his fleet of escort vessels, but were now making their way towards his super weapon. But even though this sudden development came as a surprise to Leth, the engineer was still confident in his creation would be able to defend itself easily. Especially when scans showed that the vessels were far smaller than what he thought the Terrans would throw against them. "Activate all turbo blasters and target those vessels! Don't let any of them escape." Leth ordered, as a wicked smile began to form on his face. These Terrans were not about to get off that easy for trying to attack HIS masterpiece.

Suddenly all along the entire length of the Galaxy Gun, hundreds of turbo blasters of every imaginable size and class, came to life and began to fire thousands upon thousands of red and green bolts of energy. Which traveled across the vacuum of space in a blink of an eye , towards their intended targets.

But it was at this point that the Eagle-class vessels began to show their true abilities, as their size, speed and maneuverability came into play. The attacking LCVs were able avoid most of the enemy's barrage by accelerating and darting behind the other vessels of the Imperial Fleet. It was in this manner that several cruisers were destroyed by the very weapon they were assigned to protect. But not all of the attacking LCVs were able to escape the assault, as four vessels were ripped apart by the cannon's unrelenting fire power.

It was at this point that the other six Speedbird wings de-cloaked as well and began to hit the Imperials from any and all sides, sending the enemy fleet into chaos and confusion. So much so that several more Star Destroyers actually collided with each other and allowed eight more Terrans ships to finish them off with multiple nuclear tipped HYDRA 8 missiles. A medium ranged missile that once fired, accelerated to 30% of the speed of light, before eight smaller missiles deployed and struck the target. Each smaller missile having a nuclear yield of thirty-five megatons, enough to either cripple or out right destroy an enemy capital ship. It was in this confusion that several LCVs managed to break away from the main force and began to make their attack run on the Galaxy gun.

"How long until we are in firing range?" Commander Stepson yelled out, as she struggled to remain in her seat. The fire coming from the super weapon causing her vessel the shake violently with each impact on its sheilds.

"Thirty seconds before we are in missile firing range, Commander." Hotaru replied, as her image flickered with each laser impact on the vessel, "Shields down to 55%"

"Arm all missiles! I want a full spread ready to fire once in range!" Stepson barked out, as another blaster impact rocked her vessel once again. "I want to get the hell out of here once they are out the door!"

The next thirty seconds could have easily been the longest thirty seconds of their lives, as each LCV began to close the between them and the offending Imperial super weapon. Each vessel performing extreme maneuvers in an attempt to at least, avoid being ripped apart by the Galaxy Gun's defense grid. Unfortunately, three more of the attacking LCVs were taken out by the Empire's murderous fire, as their shields failed and were subsequently destroyed. But the remaining vessels pressed on their attack, as the gap slowly began to shrink.

On board the LCV-990, the weapons crew were making the final checks on the remaining HYDRAs still on board the vessel. Making sure that both their firing mechanisms and more importantly, their guidance systems did not fail when launched. Suddenly a voice roared, "FIRE! FIRE! FIRE!" over the ship's com system and the Twi'lek officer in charge slammed his fist on the firing button and as he did, all fifteen of the LCV's remaining missiles shot out of the vessel at an high rate of speed and continued to accelerate towards their targets.

Soon the remaining vessels in the attack force fired their missiles as well, breaking off and sped away at an high rate of speed. Away from the Galaxy Gun and from what was to come next. Meanwhile all HYDRAs accelerated towards their intended, the bolts of energy coming from the numerous Turbo Blasters doing absolutely nothing to deter their flight course, as they were too small and fast for the gunners to get a positive lock on the incoming targets.

"What are those things?" Leth exclaimed, as he was now standing in front of a large console that showed the approaching missiles. "Why aren't our gunners able to shoot them down!?"

"I... I don't know, sir." Roen replied with a defeated tone in his voice, as he was both physically and mentally drained from the current battle. Apparently these small Terran vessels had been more problematic than once previously thought. "Scans show... show..."

"Spit it out man!" Umak roared in anger.

"Scans show that missile are armed with... nuclear tipped warheads..." the Imperial officer trailed off, fear could clearly be heard in his voice as he spoke. It was at that moment that Umak could feel a overwhelming sense of dread fill his entire body, as a cold and ominous chill ran up his spine. He knew that the Terrans used nuclear devices that yielded up to 150+ megatons at least and even though he had the up most faith in his creation's shielding, Leth did not know for sure that they would survive such an assault.

Unfortunately, Umak and the rest of the Galaxy Gun's crew were soon to find out the hard way that it was not, as Roen spoke up and said, "Impact in... 5... 4... 3... 2... 1..."

Suddenly dozens upon dozens of nuclear explosions began to cover the entire length and breath of the Galaxy Gun, as the missiles impacted their target. The shock of the numerous nuclear blast were so great, that the shield generators were overwhelmed and began to explode. Leaving the weapon to fall victim to even more missiles impacting all over its hull with predictable results. The Galaxy Gun began to "spin" out of control as result of the numerous explosions, large sections of it breaking off and flying into deep space. Suddenly there was a massive explosion that ripped apart the engineering section of the weapon and sent a massive wave of energy into the Imperial fleet and by the time the fire ball had cleared the Galaxy Gun as well as its mastermind, were completely destroyed.

But the crews of the LCVs could not savor their success just yet, as there were still hundreds of Imperial vessels to contend with. But no sooner had the Galaxy Gun had gone up, dozens of slip space ruptures suddenly appeared and the familiar hulls of UNSC capital ships emerged from all of them. Leading the charge was the flag ship of the fleet, UNSC Order and Chaos, followed up by her sister ships Into Darkness. Laredo and Dragon. All ships bring their MACs online and targeting the first vessels that came into firing range.

The rest of the Terran fleet followed suit and soon, the first real engagement between UNSC and Imperial capital ships had begun, with the Imperial fleet getting the worst of it. The element of surprise had been on the Terrans' side and they had used it to their advantage, either seriously crippling or destroying a number of Imperial ships. But the time it was all over the Empire was in full retreat, as they had been handed their first major defeat, in their first major engagement of the war. While the Terrans and the UNSC had gained a major victory in this new conflict. But it was at a high price, as four destroyers and 27 LCVs had been lost in the battle.

"Damage report." an exhausted commander Stepson said, as she slumped in her seat and waited for Hotaru's reply.

"Sheilds are down to 35%." the artificial intelligence began, " weapon systems are at 10% and number three engine is down,"

"At least we survived our first major deployment." the naval officer commented, aware that there were many LCVs and crews that would not be returning home. "Set course towards the Makin Island and alert them to our situation."

"Understood, commander." Hotaru replied, before her image vanished from the projector. While Rebecca existed the bridge and began the long process of inspect her vessel after their first battle. The first of many that were to come.