Again, I'm happy with the positive reviews you all have generously given me, which is always a good morale booster.

Outer Rim Territories

Venator Star Destroyer, The Concordance

Captain Keyes stood in full uniform, including his hat, wanting to look his best during this 'test' of the UNSC's capabilities against the Republic's enemies. He stood straight, with pride and gratitude, similar to when he received the Pillar Of Autumn, which detonated on Geonosis, as well as the frigate Divider. As far as he knew, the explosions crippled whatever factories and tunnels that were nearby.

Keyes was more than happy to lend any support he could, especially with all the help the Republic was willing to support in the fight against the Covenant Empire. With the reports his troops gave him on the Separatist forces they engaged on Geonosis, the UNSC was grateful to face an enemy that didn't have any massive advantage over them.

The Republic sent a standard battle group that consisted of three Venator star destroyers, which were full of the rest of the able body UNSC forces that weren't in the medical station, as well as Plo Koon's clone battalion.

The fleet arrived and was ready to engage a small Separatist defense fleet consisting of four frigates and two control ships over an unnamed world in the Outer Rim, a perfect place to start an accurate fight.

"Alright, begin the attack." Plo held his hands behind his back, watching the Separatist fleet move in to face the Republic force.

"You spoke about your skills before. I trust that you can lead this battle?" Plo asked Keyes, who nodded in return.

"Of course, you won't be disappointed." Keyes responded with a small smile. Keyes stood straighter as Plo took a step back, signifying the change of temporary command. "Listen up! I want fighter squadrons to surround the incoming fighters, divert more power to our weapons, ready turbolasers to concentrate fire on the leading enemy ships, then we can focus on the control ships once the field is clear."

The crew went to work quickly, relaying orders to fighter pilots and the men in charge of the turbolaser turrets.

Mixed flight squadrons consisting of the longswords taken from the Pillar of Autumn and the Divider as well as Republic ARC-170's went to engage the swarm of Vulture droids. The two human fighter types started well, in fact, due to usually fighting shielded fighters, the longswords went overkill on many the Vulture droids.

The longsword fighters were big targets for the Vultures, who seemed more interested in attacking them than the ARC's, but one by one, the droid fighters were shot into oblivion from blaster turrets and autocannons.

A longsword fired off its cannons fast, destroying a pair of Hyena bombers right in front of the viewpoint, creating a massive flash of metal and fire that temporarily blinded Keyes from the battle.

"Sir!" A clone lieutenant gave a salute to the Captain. "Fighters have made a clear path towards the leading frigate, shall we send bombers?"

"Yes, send longsword bomber squad Charlie and some Y-wings to attack, and make sure some ARC's escort them. Once the ship is taken out, have them launch a Nuclear mine over the center frigate, then we shall move into a closer range to increase our firepower efficiency." Keyes quickly replied, then returned his attention to the fight. The clone nodded, and returned to his post.

Charlie squad flew over the frigate, avoiding turbolaser fire and dropped a salvo of explosives that caused the shield to give out and were ultimately disabled by the Y-wing bombers.

The longswords readied their explosives as they flew over the now destroyed ship and flew over the center frigate. The mine was launched as soon as the longswords had the chance, the powerful anti ship explosive finished off the shields, and blew the ship apart, the nuclear fission-fusion reaction caused powerful EMP effects that reached several fighters and the other already damaged frigate, causing its systems to fail and the ship drifted aimlessly. It's interior fell apart and the ship practically tore in half.

With it's shields out, the Venators gutted the frigate quickly with severe turbolaser fire. The fighters mopped up the rest of the enemy fighters as the fleet moved in to face the control ships.

Debris and chunks of the ships were left to aimlessly wander, until they were eventually pulled into the planet from its gravity.

If only we had these kind of ships in the war with the Covenant. Keyes thought as he saw the raw power the Venators possesed. Maybe we could have saved Reach, if only we just had ships like these.

"Now," Keyes turned to several bridge officers, "move the Concordance towards the surface of the planet, let our other ships overwhelm the command ships and assist us afterwards."

The Concordance flew over the terrestrial world. The viewpoint revealed the world was covered in a largely deciduous surface with few lakes and rivers, as well as a large factory in the center. The factory ranged for kilometers over the surface, smoke spilled out of one of the massive poles that sprout of the factory.

Defense turrets fired at the Venator with determination, stressing the shields and forced it to fly overhead, trying to avoid the turret fire.

"Get us out of the defense turrets' range, move back into orbit in case of enemy reinforcements and get our boys down on the surface." Keyes shouted as the shields were noticeably falling fast from the attack. "I want pelicans and LAAT's to deploy troops about a kilometer from the factory's perimeter."

"Well done Mr. Keyes, I am confident that you can handle control of the space above us, I will join our men in the attack." Plo walked from the deck in a smooth fashion, leaving a smiling Keyes alone with the clone officers and crewmen.

Ryloth, Outer Rim

"Incoming!" A clone shouted as he dove for cover from another heavy ball of plasma that flew from the mortar of one of the wraiths that had been pounding their defenses. The plasma melted an approaching AT-TE's front into itself, killing the driver and stopping it in it's slow assault.

"Kriffing hell man, we just secured this planet from the Seppies!" A clone practically cried as he hid behind the wreckage of an AT-TE, which was partially melted from all the plasma fire. The clones were bewildered by this powerful, alien force that came from nowhere and immediately attacked them all over the planet. This group was one of the last standing, and were doubtful on how long they could last against the large force.

"Hold the line men!" Their Jedi general, by the name of Mace Windu, ordered as his second in command, commander Ponds, rolled up to his position in an AT-RT. Mace had to stay behind cover to stay away from the dangerous artillery and snipers the enemy possesed. But he would usually throw whatever he could at the large force, their scout vehicles, rocks and hunks of metal, but his efforts barely slowed them down.

"General, our troops can't hold this line much longer. All that stands now is half a battalion and a dozen walkers, everything else is now a line of death and destruction." Ponds took off his helmet for the first time in two days, a sorrowful look. He looked across the battlefield, what remained of their forces had been cornered into a narrow bunker, unable to retreat with any of their large vehicles.

"Our priority is clear, our only option is to hold this line, otherwise, who knows what they'll do to the Twi'leks." Mace quickly activated his lightsaber, blocking a shot from a carbine. "The rebels will keep their people far from the attacks, it's our job to keep these aliens back and wait for reinforcements."

"Sniper!" A clone yelled, right as one of his brothers was hit in the arm by a large crystal needle, giving him immense pain. Clone marksmen retaliated and killed the jackal after a couple shots came from the clone's blaster rifles and tagged the sniper right in the chest. Other jackals tried to kill the clone's that were partially exposed, but the skilled troopers quickly adapted to their strategy, and kept their heads down.

"The rebels can't help us, we're outgunned, outnumbered, and we're being jammed." Ponds shook his head. "I doubt the Republic even knows we're in trouble."

A pair of banshees flew overhead, attempting to open fire on the troopers, only to be shot at by multiple rocket launchers, which tore the nimble aircraft apart in balls of fire. The two opposing lines exchanged fierce firepower, pounding each other's armor, with no sign of any faction giving in. Plasma scorches and bodies littered the battlefield, and the cries of pain and loss filled the very air.

Balls of plasma rained on the line again, originating from a few Wraiths and half a dozen Specters.

Behind the Republic line, a certain Twi'lek leader rode up to the Jedi. With a blaster in hand, Syndulla stopped as he saw numerous balls of plasma bombarded their line.

"Master Jedi, I regret to inform you that the situation has gotten worse. The platoon you had stationed with my people at the capital are currently being attacked by these aliens. Morale is low." The Twi'lek said regretfully.

"Our forces can't repel the attacks, but I can't ask your people to fight back another invasion." Mace responded quickly, looking across the jagged line of defense.

"It's not just that, according to my scouts, these aliens have been capturing thousands of us all over, they don't plan on killing us it seems." Syndulla laid his hand on the Jedi's shoulder. "Get your men into the mountains or the caves, they seem to be interested in killing you, but not my people."

Mace took a deep breath as he could feel all the death and destruction around him, then turned to his second in command. "Commander, call for a retreat, head into the mountains and cover our backs."

The clones around him nodded, saying nothing as the order was repeated along the line of defense, and started to evacuate the troops that weren't needed to run any of the turrets and rockets to hold off the advancing Wraiths, Specters, and Prowlers that were now attacking fiercer than before.

Clones grabbed what munitions and supplies they could, and started to run, the troopers at the defense line fires off their last rockets and activated the few auto-turrets they had left.

With the force, Windu lifted the detached leg of an AT-TE, it's metal creaked and wanted to break apart. And as a pair of Specters close in for kills, he pushed the leg into the two Specters, crushing them and killing the elites inside.

Banshees and Phantoms flew overhead, followed by Spirit dropships, all raining plasma around the canyon. The Phantoms and Spirits deployed grunts and Jackals to try and flank the clone forces from various positions.

The canyon had a dozen paths that led into the rocky hills and mountains, giving the clones the chance to escape from the Covenant forces. Several Twi'leks fired upon the Covenant troops from atop the cliffs and rocky edges that overlooked the canyon. A grunt took a hit to the head, his green methane leaking into the atmosphere.

"Come on Jedi!" A blue skinned Twi'lek waved at Mace and Ponds, signaling them to head towards him.

Plasma fire flew past the clones and Jedi, barely missing them and the retreating Twi'leks. With the Republic forces out of sight, the grunts gladly gave up and searched the wrecked tanks and bodies as the rest of the Covenant troops tried to converge on the escaping enemies, until an elite officer barked orders and they stopped their advance.

"Get your shebs moving troopers!" Ponds yelled, and what remained of their force was now out of sight.

Mace clenched his teeth together, as he could clearly hear the cries of pain and agony from the clones that simply couldn't fall back in time.

Outer Rim Territories

Unnamed Separatist planet

The Pelican soared across the skies and lowered into the jungle beneath, followed by several LAAT's and other Pelicans. Their landing 'pushed' back various bushes and trees and troops jumped out quickly, all having guns aimed towards the treeline, as if they were expecting an ambush of sorts.

The well trained Marines and Clone troopers had gone through drops like this too many times to count, and went to find cover, scan for enemies, and load off needed gear as fast as they humanly could.

The MasterChief was one of the last to jump out of Echo-419's Pelican, and scanned the area with his radar and built in proximity and heat scanners right as the Pelicans took off. The troops established a small encampment in a matter of seconds, deploying stationary turrets, barricades, and opened ammo boxes.

Jedi Master Plo Koon took a deep breath as he felt into the force, searching for any signs of danger, and to his relief, he found none.

"What do we know about this factory?" Johnson asked Commander Wolffe, who stood by his Jedi General. The two and others stood by a holotable that was just finished being set up.

"Well," The holotable finally activated, revealing a detailed layout of the area. "We're here." A blue light flashed over a small area in the forest. "And the factory is here." A red light flashed over the factory. "We know there are numerous defense turrets, several legions of droids, and thousands of weapons being built. If we take this factory out, it could cost the Seppies millions of credits and lose their presence in this area."

"Hmm, well, we fought these guys back on Geo-whatamacallit, they aren't very bright." Johnson concluded, looking at the map almost impatiently.

"True, we could try to distract them." Corporal Allison walked up the group, joining the conversation. "I wouldn't doubt they would try and track us down. I know a few Lotus mines that would love to kill off some tin cans."

"All we would need is a distraction, and someone could get inside the complex, disable the turrets, or just blow the thing to kingdom come!" Johnson coughed, punching his chest in an effort to cough out whatever was building up in his throat. Johnson knew his abundant use of cigars would kill him one day, but he always figured he'd die from some elite before the cigars took any noticeable effect on his body.

Marines were already at work, unpacking a half dozen Lotus mines and other various explosives to rig. Clones readied other various explosives, and talked amongst the marines. Ace walked quietly, looking over the marines and clones to make sure they were being as fast as they should be. But he mostly did it to past time, as he was a bit anxious to take on an enemy less powerful than the Covenant for once.

"Come on Andy." A marine patted the side of the Lotus mine as he readied it. The marine caught Ace's attention.

"Andy?" Ace asked, confused by the Marine's weird 'conversation' with the explosive. "Private, did you call the bomb Andy?"

"Uh, yeah?" The marine swallowed his saliva. He walked back a few steps, then jogged to a pair of arguing marines. Ace shook his head with a smirk. So many younger marines had been shoved into the front lines this late in the war, it was no wonder some of them still had some childish traits left hidden behind the scars.

Ace continued his silent 'patrol' around the area. In reality, he wished he was back with his friend Red, the two grew close together, practically becoming brothers. It was always good to talk with a more experience soldier, one he could relate some experiences too. He shrugged off the thoughts and kept walking forward. One foot in front of the other.

In the bushes behind them, a lone probe droid waited in absolute silence, remaining in a stealthy state. The droid had been recording the new arrivals for a little over a minute, and was almost ready to depart. A small, barely noticeable noise from behind. A small crack of a stick alerted the droid, and turned quickly.

Only to meet 'face' to face with a large, dark green armored humanoid.

The probe droid tried to escape, but it's leg was grabbed extremely fast by the MasterChief, who easily pulled it under his boot and crushed it.

"Nice one Chief, although i've analyzed three other scenarios to which you wouldn't have been noticed." Cortana scanned the probe, information popped up on the Chief's HUD. "Hmm, thankfully, this thing only transmitted a small fragment of footage."

"Could we still work this into our favor?" Chief asked, throwing the crushed droid over the bushes and into the clearing where the base camp was established. He walked out and saw everyone staring at the scene. Marines were nearly finished positioning radar and scanning gear around the base, and went back to their work.

"Most definitely. They'll probably send a small force, test our abilities and then launch another attack." Cortana concluded after going through the data she had on their current enemies. "We could easily set a trap."

"Chief?" Allison ran up and examined the damaged droid, who was followed by Wolffe and Plo Koon. "The hell is this?"

Sparks flew from the droid, its red 'eye' cracked and practically fried. Its body was severely damaged from the heavy stomp it received from the MasterChief.

"A probe droid." Wolffe kicked the small machine. "Clankers know we're here now."

"Excellent work, MasterChief." Plo Koon scanned the area with the force again, seeing if anything else was trying to creep on them. "They know our exact location now, we need to act quickly and prepared defenses and set up some sort of ambush."

"Agreed." Cortana said through Chief's helmet. "We should send a small team inside the complex while we distract as much of the droids as we can."

"I'll send scouts to check out the area. When they return, we can began our plan." Wolffe saluted to his Jedi General, who nodded in return, and Wolffe ran to a pair of ARF troopers that had been sitting by several crates, and gave them orders about their next assignment.

"We'll send a small force towards the factory, their droids will follow as we make a retreat through the forests, and lead them where we want them." Cortana stated.

"An excellent plan, miss. While that stage is carried out your MasterChief and I will sneak inside with a few troopers, we should be able to get in and out swiftly." Plo Koon said to the AI.

Orbit of Ryloth

CAS-assault carrier, Resplendent Fervor

Head of the Third Fleet of Glorious Consequence

The Third Fleet of Glorious Consequence stood above the destroyed Republic ships proudly. With the loss of merely a single Battlecruiser, the fleet had scored a small victory in space against a small Republic fleet, and their Commander, Luro 'Taralumee, was pleased by their efficient results.

The fleet now stood at thirteen ships, twelve of which were battlecruisers while the flagship being his assault carrier.

The Supreme Commander sat in his command chair in deep thought. He held his hands together as he listened to his Major give him a report on the ongoing task.

"Resistance is fierce, but small, Commander." The Major held a data pad, which contained information from ground commanders. "We've captured thousands of the natives, our forces are setting up labor camps and bases across the world as we speak. This planet is ours."

"Good, this will be a suitable planet for resources and labor, glory to clan and kin, Major." The Commander waved his hand, and the Major left him.

He had listened to reports of the new human force they encountered, tales of beings possessing magical abilities and ships that didn't travel using slipspace, all these things boggled his mind. But he didn't let that distract him from his work.

On the left side of his command chair, a small console lit up with a flashing blue light. Luro tapped several commands and a hologram of the newly appointed Commander Koso 'Radumee stood in front of him.

"Greetings Commander Luro." Koso started off smoothly, and calm. "I hear you've scored yet another victory, and better yet, have discovered a possible candidate for our Covenant. Am I correct?" Koso tilted his head to the side, hs mandibles clicked together once, twice.

"Indeed." Luro hated answering to someone he considered beneath him. Even if they had the same rank. He respected Thel 'Vadamee, yes, as well as the Admiral, but he had little to no respect for anyone else, no matter what rank they were. "But these creatures are weak and aren't in the numbers necessary to be of much use in combat. I am currently forcing them to work to provide us with raw materials and agricultural resources. I made plans to place an Unggoy breeding facility so that our numbers would increase as well."

"A wise move." Koso paused. "Have you heard the news from the Hierarchs? I am in full command of anyone in this portion of the galaxy, and that, includes you."

Luro snorted in disgust, he was willing to insult the young commander, but feared his very head would be removed by the Prophets themselves if he did so. For now, he would have to listen.

"Did you come to gloat? Or do you have any other purpose to be in my sight?" Luro said, keeping back a noticeable hint of anger.

"Gloat to be sure, but I have more important things to discuss. More and more fleets have been arriving in this part of the galaxy, and they don't have the knowledge I do, be sure to send drones across the nearby systems and see if any of our brethren are close. I've been gathering information on this, Republic, as they call themselves. They are much more powerful than the previous humans we have been fighting. I'll need all the ships I can muster to fully execute my plans on several worlds." Koso made what would be the Sangheili version of a grin. "Would you be so kind as to 'donate' some?"

"Do you not know I have a mere thirteen vessels? I can't just lend any of them to you!" Luro barked at Koso, slamming his fist on the right side of his chair.

"A few battlecruisers should be enough," Koso continued, as of Luro hadn't even spoken against him. "I appreciate your cooperation."

"You foolish little-"

"I will speak more to you another time, I must go." Koso cut him off, and continued speaking to the obviously angered Commander. "Be sure to send some cruisers to Geonosis, as well as another report on your efforts. May the gods be with you."

The hologram shut off, leaving Luro in a state of anger. He had just been questioned and treated as if he was an inferior Commander. Clenching his fists together, Luro imagined cutting Koso in two with his own energy sword. A thought that comforted him greatly.

"That fool will either die by the humans or my own hand." Luro muttered to himself. "I pray the gods give me such a blessing."

Outer Rim Territories

Unnamed Separatist world

The clanking of a hundred battle droids could be heard across the area. Not careful to search the entire area. They had a job to do, and the enemy was reported to be less than a kilometer from the factory. B1's marched forward, followed by a pair of AAT's which were accompanied by a few B2 battle droids.

They were given simple orders, kill the enemy.

"I think I see them!" A B1 shouted. "They're hiding in between the trees!"

"Roger, roger." The droids all simultaneously replied, and began to aimlessly open fire into the bushes and trees.

A rocket flew out from a bush, slamming into the side of an AAT and killed several droids around it. Marines and clone troopers opened fire from all directions, tossing grenades and tearing apart dozens of droids.

Another wave of droids started to advance, with the same composition as the first one. Seeing this, the Marines and clones began to fall back, shooting a couple droids as they fled, but not too fast. The droids were now in pursuit, thinking they could simply hunt down them and finish them off.

Unbeknownst to the droids, a figure ran faster than comprehension across the field and into the building they droids exited from. The tall, armored being held open a door just in time for a Jedi and a pair of clones to enter, then the MasterChief let the door close behind them.

The droids began to reach a clearer path in the forest, but were confused on where the enemy had gone. Droids spread out into the bushes and shrubbery.

A B1 walked over until he hit something with his foot. "What the?" The droid was confused and picked up some beeping, circular device. On the side, the device had strange markings that the droid couldn't understand.

"Find anything?" A B1 commander yelled from his AAT.

"This thing is weird, its flashing some red dot and it seems to have some kind of label!" The B1 yelled back, and kept staring at the strange object.

Another B1 walked up, scratching the top of his head. The beeping of the light seemed to have gone faster, as if it were counting down to something. It took several seconds for the droids to realize what it was.

"Oh nooo-aaaaaahhh!" The droid yelled as the Lotus mine, dubbed as 'Andy', exploded in front of them. The blast killed a dozen droids and seemed to have set off other explosions, tearing apart the very jungle around the droids.

"Woohoo! Good job Andy!" A marine yelled with glee, and opened fire on the confused droids with his assault rifle.

Marines and clones alike hopped from bushes and shot as many droids as they could before running back farther and farther to their camp. The droids continued on, even with its losses, they had already prepared another platoon of droids to reinforce them.

"Let's hope the Chief and them made it in easy enough." Allison remarked as she dove for cover to avoid blaster fire. Ace had been near her the whole time, making sure she would live through this. Unlike himself, she had a family to still go back to.

"Get your asses moving!" Ace yelled, pulling out a frag grenade, pulled the pin with his teeth, and chucked it into a pair of B2's, killing them both easily. "I'm sure they'll be fine, we have got to focus on this right now."

"Go, go, go!" Johnson shouted to the men behind him. A clone took a hit to the leg, although it wasn't serious, the clone clearly couldn't move fast enough to not get hit again. Johnson quickly grabbed the clone, and practically dragged him away from the attacking droids.

Republic Medical Station

Naboo System

Inside a bacta tank, stood a rather tall, muscular woman, who looked rather well for her age. Her eyes opened wide as she regained consciousness. All she could see was some liquid around her, a mask over her mouth, which allowed her to breath.

Reach! The Covenant! Where? She couldn't speak with the tubed mask over her, so she tried to remember her last thoughts before she woke up, her first attempts gave her a migraine.

She remembered Reach, the military world she had trained on and defended. She recalled random words like Autumn, Cortana, and invasion. Had the Covenant found Reach? Her head ached as she tried to remember. She recalled Covenant ships, her memories became clearer on what happened. Once she finally had a clear memory, images of Covenant ships attacking, a hundred human vessels destroyed, the Covenant appearing over Reach, her eyes widened again.

She looked around frantically, wondering if the Covenant somehow captured her. A painful memory popped up in her mind, being shot repeatedly by Elites and Jackals. Her shields were down, her armor barely holding back the balls of plasma, but failed. She remembered seeing blackness, a light, as if something was there. And now she was here.

An alarm came alive around her, she began to freak out over terrible thoughts that crossed her mind. The Covenant never took prisoners, but if they did, who knows what they would do; and she didn't want to find out. She gave herself an objective, escape. Only then would she find out where she was.

Punching on the glass, she shattered the barrier with a mere three punches. She noted she was still in a weakened state as the liquid around her rushed past her body, taking her with the wave.

She pulled the tubed mask off, and coughed twice. Taking heavy breaths, the alarm continued to roar as she heard a door swish behind her.

She turned quickly, and saw a strange looking, alien creature. Pale white skinned, with some type of white and greyish suit. Two big eyes, and most noticeably, a very long neck. It reminded her of giraffes she would see in videos of lions hunting she saw when she was young.

"How did you-" Linda rushed forward, grabbing the feeble creature by the neck, and slowly choked it. The aliens skinny arms grabbed her muscular arm, but didn't have the strength to pry Linda's arm away.

"Linda!" A human voice shouted. She turned to see a marine with a bandage over his left eye. His hands held up as he walked up to her "Spartan stand down! She's an ally!"

Linda took several breaths. She nodded, and let the alien go. The kaminoan held her hands by her neck, gasping for air and back away from the Spartan. Two other marines, and some darker skinned man wearing white armor appeared by the door. "Marine? What happened? Where are we?"

"Just, come down." The marine took a deep breath, he lowered his hands and kept walking towards her. "We can explain, but, it's a long story."

Next time, Demons, Brutes, and droids, Oh my!