The Intergalactic War

By Chief Ratchet

(A.N: Well, hi again. I really don't have much to talk about for now, so I'll keep this at a minimum. Also, the real fighting begins in the next chapter. Thanks to all the people who have reviewed so far, thought I might mention that. This is the chapter where all the other generals and admirals meet with the UCNC. Also, I need to clear a few things up for later chapters. When I mention Alliance Trooper, it refers to the soldiers the Rebel Alliance used in the Galactic Civil War. Stormtrooper refers to good old Stormies. I hope you enjoy this one!)

Reviews:

Star wars 2136 (Twice!): Thanks for the reviews and your loyalty to this story so far! Well, the standard Super Star Destroyer is approximately 19000 metres long. Consider all the ships destroyed in the war, and for materials-the glassed planets. Think about it. All that metal underneath the surface to be collected. The books say that the surface was glassed, not the entire planet destroyed. And don't forget the Engineers. Well, enjoy this chapter!

The One Called Sugar: Thanks. Enjoy this chapter as well!

Sunny: Here is another chapter! And I estimate that this might be around twenty to thirty chapters long. Thanks for reading!

thunder: Thanks for the review, hope you enjoy this update!

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters that belong to Bungie or Lucas. I do own any made up characters of my own though.

Chapter 9: Of Meetings and Simulations


General Wedge Antilles, famous X-Wing pilot and leader of the Third Fleet, sat in the conference room in the newly constructed Orbital HQ for the Alliance military, along with the other Admirals and Generals of the other nine fleets, save for Admiral Richards. Pellaeon had called upon them to meet with their newest ally-the UCNC. When Wedge had first arrived, the UCNC fleet was in orbit around Coruscant, circling like sharks. Much like everyone else, he was soon staring at the Divine Blade in wonder.

The Divine Blade was not orbiting the planet; instead it was motionless. The gargantuan ship was about two miles away from Coruscant, and apparently undergoing repairs, or showing visitors around. Shaking his head a little, he looked around the large table where they were all seated. The chairs were more like cushions that adjusted itself to meet the requirements of any being who sat on it. All the other Admirals and Generals were weary-they were fighting non-stop for at least a few days.

All were pissed at the situation, to say in the least. The war was now going in the CIS' favour, and they were still relentlessly pushing onwards. All of the fleets were very reliant on the help of the First Fleet, commanded by Admiral Ontivere, who was more smiling than looking depressed. His fleet had suffered the fewest losses as of yet, and the First Fleet was divided into smaller battle groups, skirting around to lend help to the fleet's when it was required. Wedge's fleet had the second least losses, though they were bound to increase soon.

The Eighth Fleet had the most losses, mainly due to the fact that they had suffered the brunt of the Thyferra attack, in which out of the whole fleet of two hundred ships, less than a hundred remained. It also lost its commander during the battle. Almost all ships constructed so far were sent to rebuild the Eighth Fleet.

The door hissed open, and in walked Pellaeon, followed by an alien of which Wedge didn't recognize, and another two of the same species, one wearing golden armour, and the other wearing gleaming white armour. To his surprise, in followed a human, whose chest was filled with medals. Pellaeon asked them to sit, and they did. The Supreme Commander cleared his throat.

"Thank you all for coming. This is the Arbiter," he gestured towards the one in seemingly ancient armour, "Field Master Kayd 'Kinomee," he pointed at the one wearing gold armour, "SpecOps Commander Zuka 'Zamamee," he pointed at the one in white, "and Major General Armand," he said as pointed at the human. The three foreign officers seated themselves on the seats. "Arbiter, these are the Admirals and Generals of our fleets. Commanding the First Fleet is Admiral Ontivere. The commander of the Second Fleet is most unfortunately deceased, when the CIS first attacked. I am already into the procedures for selecting a new commanding officer. With command of the Third Fleet is General Wedge Antilles. Our commander for the Fourth Fleet is Admiral Richards, who unfortunately cannot be with us at this moment." And the introductions went on. When they were finally over, they went to discussing the enemy, and the UCNC's weaponry. "So our opponents are robots, manufactured in thousands of numbers," the Arbiter commented. Pellaeon nodded.

"The most basic unit is the Battle Droid. Armed with a single blaster rifle, they lack creativity, and only obey orders. However, there is an upgraded version. The Super Battle Droid features a thicker layer of armour, and has built-in wrist blasters and even a miniature rocket launcher in the wrist as well."


As Pellaeon informed the representatives of the UCNC about the CIS' ground units, holographic picture of the said unit appeared. Finally, it came for the UCNC to inform to Galactic Alliance of the UCNC's history and technology. Arbiter had been talking to Lord Hood for the last few hours before, and both of them agreed to the schematics of UCNC technology. When the Arbiter had told Pellaeon that there would little to no technology exchange between them, Pellaeon understood. Many factions liked to keep secrets, and the UCNC was no different.

"Well, our weaponry consists of two different types. The humans like to use ballistic weapons-"here he was cut off by Admiral Richards.

"Ballistic weapons? You mean slugthrowers?" he asked.

"If you mean solid projectiles, then yes. However, the races of the reformed Covenant use plasma weapon. Only recently, new technology have allowed our technicians and scientists to create a plasma field generator, which are now installed in all human weaponry, except for explosives," finished the Arbiter.

"What's a plasma field generator?" asked Wedge. He was interested in this new development. Slugthrowers weren't gong to do well against droids. Plasma, on the other hand, might do the trick.

"It is a small device that fits into a gun easily. It coats the bullet with plasma, giving it both of the qualities of each particular weapon," the Arbiter explained. Wedge nodded in understanding. Pellaeon spoke up.

""Well, I think that the necessary introductions and talks have finished. I think that some simulation would be good-we need to see the extent of your prowess-both in space and planetary. Just simulation of course," he said. The Arbiter nodded. It would be interesting to battle their soldiers. The Marines and other soldiers needed a work-out, as not all of them had seen battle at Dac.

"I can get some soldiers organised and ready within two hours," he said.

"Alright. Meet you in two hours?" asked Pellaeon. The Arbiter nodded.

"The simulation room is in this station. Someone will take you there."

"See you in two hours," said the Arbiter.


Within the medical bay of the Divine Blade, sat three Spartans, waiting to see if they could enter. A medic can through the door. "You may enter, Spartans," announced the medic. They didn't bother to answer; instead, they walked straight past him.

Inside, on one of the recovery beds, laid Linda. The other three Spartans were out of their armour. "Hey, how are you feeling?" asked John. Linda smiled.

"Just fine. The doctor said that I will be combat ineffective for at least a few more weeks, so I'm not exactly happy at that," she answered.

"That's funny. I could have sworn that you were smiling before," remarked Fred. "Also, mind me asking why you're always getting the R&R while we are out there getting our asses shot up?"

"You look intact to me," said Linda.

"Enough bickering already," interrupted Kelly. "So, Linda," she said with a sly grin. "Any of the Marines here catch your eye?" she asked.

Before she could answer, the Arbiter walked in. "Spartans, I need your assistance," he began.

"What is it?" asked John.

"It would be good to have you three participate in a simulated battle with our newest allies. It is in a simulator, and about two hundred soldiers would be nice. So, are you interested?" he asked.


Within two hours, Pellaeon had gotten together a company of soldiers, from Troopers to Stormtroopers. There were some SpecForce soldiers from every regiment. Soon, their opponents arrived, and filed in. At the front were three soldiers wearing green armour. All of them were unarmed, as were the Alliance troops. The soldiers were informed that each one of them had two 'lives'.

The computer database generates the weapon during the simulation, so there is little to no chance of actually getting wounded. Cortana had supplied them with the information necessary, but it was not enough should someone decide to reverse engineer the weapons.

The simulation began, and a battlefield appeared. It was a hilly place, with occasional large stretches of empty land. The objective was to simply blow the other side's team apart. The Master Chief spotted a Field Master, and walked over to him. "Field Master, this will be your battle. Lead the troops to victory," he said. The Field Master nodded, and ordered his troops to move forward, in small groups.

The Chief however, led his group of Spartans around the majority of the hills, if only to distract the main enemy base defences. "Kelly, recon the area ahead," the Chief whispered to her. Her acknowledgement light lit up for a moment. All the Spartans were heavily armed. Each carried a Jackhammer launcher, a Battle Rifle with an underslung grenade launcher, as well as multiple grenades. Even with all the equipment, Kelly was able to sprint up to over fifty kilometres per hour.

"Chief? Enemy contact spotted, about two kilometres away," came Kelly's voice over the com-link.


The Marine structure was revised after the war. The most basic unit was a fire-team, consisting of ten Marines. A fire-team was armed with weapons of every type for every situation. Every fire-team was given a name and a number. Right now Fire Team Alpha 2 was scouting out a cave. Their Sergeant was out in front with a shotgun.

"Hey Sarge, you see anything?" a private near the back asked.

"Shut your trap, private, before they here you. I know this is a simulation, but we got to leave and impression. Anyway, we're going to be shipping out soon, and we haven't exactly had dirt under our feet for a while, anyway. So shut your mouth," replied the Sergeant.

They kept moving, until they saw the Troopers ahead.

"Enemy contacts! Fire at will!" shouted the Sergeant. Two seconds later all the Marines were firing down the tunnel. Most of the Marines had Battle Rifles set on automatic, and were simply spraying down the tunnel. Three of his Marines went down in the enemy return fire.

The Sergeant crouched down and started firing. He used the scope of the rifle to zoom in and pick a few off. However, they kept on coming. He keyed his com-link. "This is Fire-team Alpha 2! We are under attack. Thirty percent casualties! We need support, now!" the Sergeant fired at a soldier who had charged up.

The response came quick. "Alpha 2, Bravo 4 is en route. Hang in there." The link cut off.


Outside, a big 'battle' was being fought. The Stormtroopers and Troopers were rushing against the UCNC lines. The Grunts, Elites and Marines were dug in trenches, and had machine guns set up. The Field Master had set up the machine guns so that they had an overlapping field of fire, and the Marines with LMGs were at the front, prone so that they added more firepower to the defensive ranks.

The rest were behind them, so the machine guns had a clear view. Already many of the machine gun barrels were glowing red from the amount of bullets they spat out. The Alliance soldiers were now to dug in, firing at the UCNC lines. The Field Master sent a message to the Spartans. "Spartans! Move to co-ordinates provided, and fire upon the enemy flanks!"

"Affirmative. Spartan-117out." The COM clicked off.

The Field Master ran to the front most trenches, grabbing a Carbine on the way, and pushed in a clip for it. Once there, he shouted, "Fall back! Wait until they break formation first!"

Soon enough, streaks of smoke were making their way towards the Alliance lines, and fire erupted from the explosions. More explosions on a smaller scale also blossomed from multiple grenade explosions, hand-held and launched. The confusion caused by the explosions that continued allowed for the escape of the Marines and Elites in the front trenches.

"Leave the mounted machine guns!" shouted the Field Master. "Just bring the ammunition, and the ordinance!" The soldiers all scrambled to get out everything needed before the Alliance got oriented. Meanwhile the Field Master remained in the trench, organizing the ones who needed help.

At last, the trenches were evacuated, and everyone was back into the trenches further behind. The Field Master was just finishing off a squad of Stormtroopers who were overambitious when the group of Spartans made it back. "Welcome back," greeted the Field Master. "Quite a show you put up. Fall back to the other trenches." They simply nodded.


By now the battle had degraded to a few soldiers per side, and it appeared that the Alliance had more soldiers than the UCNC. The Field Master was still there, as were the Spartans. Fire Teams Alpha 2 and Bravo 4 had gotten out of the tunnels alive, and had joined the main UCNC force. Most of the UCNC soldiers were 'killed' when a group of SpecForce soldiers with explosives dug underneath a trench and setted time bombs. When the bombs had gone off, three trenches had collasped. The Spartans shot up the SpecForce group when they poked their heads out of the hole, most likely to throw even more explosives into the UCNC lines.

Finally, the Alliance decided to end the simulation when the remaining soldiers charged at the UCNC lines. "Launch the missiles!" shouted the Field Master in return. All the remaining soldiers with Jackhammer Launchers launched rockets at the near solid wall of Stormtroopers and Troopers. The rockets blasted holes in the wall, and the second volley was enough to wipe out half the attackers. The rest were promptly gunned down.

The battlefield, with the smoking craters and trenches, started to disappear. All of the soldiers were standing there, intact, and armour just as pristine as it was before the simulation. Pellaeon walked up. "Your soldiers are to be commended," he said to the Arbiter as soon as the Arbiter was there. "With your help, this war is going to turn soon, I can feel it. I think we can get your soldiers some action by tomorrow. Better get them ready, eh?"

"Of course. By tomorrow, I think about three companies of soldiers, and at least two armoured divisions should be ready for action. I hope that is enough for a few planets. The Spartans should be ready. We probably have to split them up. If the CIS use mindless automatons, one Spartan could probably blow apart whole armies. Also, there are our SpecOps Elites, who are highly trained commandoes. I think this will bolster your forces," said the Arbiter.

"Of course. Now, I think you need to get them ready. It's going to be a long day tomorrow."


That night, aboard the Divine Blade, the three un-injured Spartans were lounging around in their shared quarters when the Arbiter stepped through the door. All three instantly saluted when he stepped through. He nodded and said "At ease." He sat himself down, and started to speak.

"Spartans, you will be shipped out in the morning at 0800. However, I'm afraid that you will have to be split up, mainly due to the lack of your numbers. I'll give you your assignments tomorrow. Good luck, and make us proud." All of them nodded. The Arbiter then walked out the door, and they all sat down.

"Guess this is the last time we'll be together for a while," said Kelly. John and Fred nodded solemnly.

"Hey, at least we're not on the verge of annihilation. And besides, we're Spartans. What could go wrong?" asked Fred.

"That's what you said at Reach. And also, try not to say that-it seems to be bad luck," said Kelly.

"Hey, it only happened once. You can't prove anything from something that happened just once," argued Fred.

"Alright, that's enough. Come on, get some sleep. I got that feeling that this is the last time we'll get proper sleep for a long time," John said. Kelly and Fred ceased arguing, and climbed into their bunks.

"What do you think the enemy would be like?" Fred asked, his voice full of anticipation. Spartans weren't created to lounge around doing nothing. They were meant for war, something that they hadn't seen for quite a few months now, not counting the skirmish on Dac.

"I'm not sure. Hey, they can't be that harder than the Covenant, so it might be even easy," said Kelly.

"Maybe. Then again, war is full of surprises," said John.

Some of their theories might be right. However, the banter, and the chat they had with Linda was a relief to John. It meant that his team-mates were ready, and that they would be one hundred percent efficient for the battle tomorrow. It also meant that their grief from losing Will was passing. It was there in all those battles, but they never really remembered it in the heat of battle.


The next morning, the three Spartans stood in one of the many launch bays on the Divine Blade. There were Pelicans and Phantoms everywhere, and Marines, Elites, Grunts and Hunters were gathering around the ships. The Pelicans and Phantoms were meant for taking the UCNC soldiers to other ships for battle, as the Divine Blade had the greatest amount of soldiers.

The Divine Blade was to take part in the battle for Cato Neimoidia. This was the furthest place that the CIS had pushed to, and the Alliance wanted it back. As the Arbiter sat in his chair, he read the report that the Alliance Intelligence had composed. Apparently, the world was the base of the now defunct Trade Federation.

Being a CIS supporter during the Clone Wars, the world had left behind numerous droid factories, something that the Alliance had no wish for the CIS to gain. So they had a small fleet there, not more than one hundred ships, but enough to make anyone to think twice before attacking the planet. Almost anyone. It seemed that the CIS had launched a massive assault, seizing control in little over a day.

Already, an enormous CIS fleet orbited the planet, as well as most likely millions of battle droids. With that in mind, as well as the fact that most of the droids were in the clustered bridge cities, he decided to assign Spartan-104, or Fred, to the operation. Also, SpecOps Team 8 would be there. "Cortana?" he asked.

"Yes? What is it?" she said in response.

"Compile a report concerning the battle, along with all relevant information, and send it to all the commanding officers in this battle. Tell them to share the information with the troops. I want them to know how the situation is."

"Already on it."

"Good."

Fred shook John's hand, as well as Kelly's, before they left. He was to stay here, and to get ready for combat. The deck shifted a bit, and the Divine Blade entered Slipspace, along with a flotilla of Alliance and UCNC warships. He then read the report while walking to the armoury. "Hmmm, close quarters combat to be expected for a large majority of the battle. Good, it's been a while since I had proper urban warfare. Better get ready," he said to himself. He reached the armoury, and greeted the soldiers he met on the way with a nod.

Once inside the armoury, which had more than a few soldiers inside gearing up, he settled down on the bench. He grabbed a Shotgun, as well as a pair of M9 SMG's. Almost immediately after the majority of the Brute was destroyed, the then UNSC revised a number of its weapons, particularly the SMG. It was incapable of doing large amount of damage, and its accuracy, as well as the power of the bullet dropped significantly after fifteen metres. The new M9 SMG fired a 9mm bullet, almost twice the width of the bullet the M7 fired. Also, the barrel was longer, and the stock was able to fold, reducing size. However, the magazine size was reduced to forty rounds per clip, mostly because the bullet was larger.

It was much more effective than the M7 at close range, mainly because its rounds were larger and had more punching power. Also, it fired slower than the M7, though it gave it more accuracy.

After clipping them to his magnetic holders, he grabbed an Energy Sword as well. They were absolutely devastating, and Fred had gotten hold of a few skills off some of the Elites. Also, in case of a target further away, he slung a Battle Rifle over his shoulder. He then opened his backpack, and filled it with ration bars, some medical equipment and a whole lot of ammo. Once it was filled, Fred attached it to his back, before walking out armoury, nodding at the soldiers inside.


In Launch Bay 4, where Fred's Pelican dropship was waiting, was a storm of chaos. Humans and aliens were running around to their dropships in streams, and once there, climbed in and waited. As Fred walked to his dropship, the soldiers made a wide berth to avoid getting in his way. He reached the Pelican, and climbed inside. Settling himself as near as possible to the open end, he watched the chaos reign. He viewed the uniforms that the Marines already onboard were wearing.

The uniform looked exactly like the uniform the Marines on Earth wore, except for one thing-the suits had shielding. It wasn't very strong, only able to handle a few bursts from a Battle Rifle, but it let them live that much longer. Also, a holographic projector mounted on a small screen enabled them to see the battlefield, and the position of squad mates. The projector screen was mounted on a small 'arm' which could be folded back, to give more room to see.

The Marines were holding Battle Rifles, and had a pistol strapped to the upper part of their leg for easy removal. The power for the shield was generated by the smallest of generators, big enough to fit in a small pack, which was on their backs. There was enough room to contain ammunition, supplies and other gear.

A team of navy engineers ran up to the Pelican, and refuelled it. Another team checked the thrusters, to make sure that there was nothing wrong with it. Throughout the bay, Fred could see even more teams doing the same to the other Pelicans and Phantoms. His mission clock stated that over an hour had passed, despite being what seemed like only a few minutes to Fred.

An alarm klaxon wailed, and the engineers poked his head into the passenger bay, gave a thumbs up to the pilot, closed the ramp and then walked off.

"Close the airlock!" shouted the pilot, now having checked all the electronics. Fred stood up, and pressed a few buttons. The light on top of the closed ramp blinked red, signalling the airlock was closed. There was nothing left to do until the order to launch was given.


On the bridge, the Arbiter was watching the main view screen seemingly unconcerned. They were going to exit Slipspace soon, and then, the first f many battles will be fought by the combined forces of the Grand Alliance and the UCNC. "Exiting Slipspace in five, four, three, two, one, now," said Cortana. The inky blackness of Slipspace disappeared to reveal a planet with over five hundred skeletal warships in orbit.

"Cortana, are all of our ships here?" he asked. Truthfully, not all of their ships were here. The Fleet of Retribution was split into multiple battle groups, each sent to different planets, to help their Alliance allies battling there. All over the battles now happening, UCNC ships appeared, and went to engage the CIS ships.

It was now official: the UCNC had entered the fray.


(A.N: Well, what do you think? I know it is probably not the best I have typed up yet, but in the next chapter, Fred will do battle! Also, sorry if the Spartans were a bit out of character, but think of it this way-has anyone written about how the Spartans when they were not in battle, or when one team mate was wounded but still conscious? And sorry for skipping out on so much stuff, it would have taken forever to type up. So anyway, still sorry, read and review, and 'till next time!)