Disclaimer: I do not own Halo or Star Wars; the trademark belongs to Bungie Studios and Microsoft Game Studios, and George Lucas and Lucasarts respectively.
Author's Notes: Thanks to the readers that responded, the votes (including mine) is 2-1 against her death, keep voting please! And keep reviewing! Please!
I changed the Battle of Kamino a bit, hope you guys don't mind, the general plot is like those of the canon version however. I added new stuff to spice the general battle up in space, and a bit on the ground hopefully if I get there.
One more thing: the reason I wasn't able to update sooner was because my computer crashed, I saved the incomplete file (and the only copy) but my computer was formatted and I needed to install Microsoft Word again, so apologies for the delay.
To Zadok: Unfortunately, Cortana and the Chief won't have any romances ( for me too!) because Cortana's going to be moved not into a protocol droid's body but an astromech's, like Artoo's (yay Artoo!) No, Cortana won't go rampant; Anakin fixed that part as well when he fixed the program that caused Cortana to "die" as well.
To harveykaiba: No, Anakin won't turn to the dark side, but the rest, you will have to wait (evil author, hehehe) until those chapters come out.
Nelona 10th, 22 BBY
Kamino, Tipoca City landing pads
Anakin stood alone, the lightning flashing in the background as he thought of the war, and what it did with his relationship with his wife.
Truth is, he was not sure whether the war was a good thing or not. On one side, he was able to marry Padmé just after the Battle of Geonosis, yet on the other, he couldn't see her often. He continued to watch on the landing pad, where the Azure Angel landed, and then, deciding there was nothing good gazing out, he turned and worked on getting the defensive system that was going to be deployed by his ship into the Azure Angel.
His ship was modified slightly to carry a bit of cargo, in this case, a defensive network of satellites and probes that could in theory monitor everything within its range and in the hyperspace transits routes and simultaneously defend the planet. Already, the south side of the planet was linked with a sophisticated defense system unlike any other. The rings of satellites had sensors protruding out to detect any anomalies and hyperspace entries and once detected an unknown frequency will automatically engage a planetary shield using its base projectors, stopping all flights entering or exiting the planet impossible without the deactivation of one pane. The additional probes were designed as auto-turrets and defensive grid network, which provided turbolaser and laser defense. The networks were interconnected, but the top half of the globe was still vulnerable. Named the Aegis System, it was the most powerful system ever devised.
He finished loading his parts, and readying to take off, he called starfighter control. "Starfighter Control, this is the Azure Angel, I'm ready for takeoff, can I go yet?" he reported in.
"Azure Angel, this is Control, you are clear to launch. Deploy, recon, and return, is that understood?" John called from the control center
"Got it, C&C," Anakin said as he launched.
Tipoca Administrative Facility and Command & Control
John stood in the scanner as Obi-Wan looked at the energy transfer output.
"Alright, we're ready for the transfer of information, the frequency is matched to your neural interface now," Obi-Wan said. John nodded, and the memory began to transfer. A moment later, it was done.
"Did you actually do these things or are they imagined, John?" Obi-Wan asked, looking at the screen.
"Done, is it so hard to believe? And besides, it's only in experience, the new drop pods are safer and faster, just no parachutes and a much faster velocity," John replied. He asked for a new pod with the materials they had, which is much more resistant, and with no need of parachutes he could add coolants to keep the troopers cool during drop.
The newer ships that would be the fleet that the 101st Legion belong to would had much stronger and more numerous weaponry, as well as those from the Milky Way, notably Cortana's "Plasma Lance" and the Plasma Torpedoes that replaced proton torpedoes. The new starfighters and tanks were also derived from the standard models. For example, the new prototype Aggressive ReConnaissance 170 starfighters, or simply ARC-170's, were 3 people crafts, but reengineered for only one, with the rest of the space filled with more advanced systems. The targeting system was advanced, the laser powered up, and proton torpedoes replaced with SABOT-type rounds he knew were used hundreds of years ago on Earth.
Basically, what SABOT round did was a thin penetrator warhead with heavy explosives packed in – thermonuclear in this case – was fired at an extremely high speed towards the target, damaging the target with the kinetic energy followed by the subsequent detonation of the ordnance. In reality, it was a combination of the old SABER rounds and the Excalibur rounds which had a guidance system for a small ordnance. The torpedo launchers were also changed, with the system being more of a Gauss cannon than a torpedo launcher. The tiny rounds were just over 80cm, so more than 20 can be placed in, which was 14 more than Proton Torpedoes and 10 times as destructive as the torpedoes.
However, the troopers had to make due to present equipment until the new ships could be placed under mass ordering, which might take another year or two.
"Chief!" Cortana suddenly called, "Something's going on… I found Offensive Bias!"
"Wait a moment wait a moment wait a moment… you're talking about the same Offensive Bias I'm thinking about, right? The Offensive Bias that defeated Mendicant Bias?"
"Yes!"
Kamino information network
Cortana wasn't a woman – construct, actually – that was easily surprised, but she was, right now, completely and utterly surprised.
The Kaminoans were the Forerunners.
She continued to communicate with Offensive Bias. "Tell me, how long have you been here?" she asked.
"Ever since the Flood was destroyed and contained by the Arrays, I, along with the remnants of my fleet, left that galaxy, and rejoined at this coordinate, which is where we planned to gather, and according to your database – yes, I can access them, I have full access to restricted and unrestricted files within this network, around 100,000 Earth years have passed since the defeat of Mendicant Bias," Offensive Bias replied.
"Are you in the network right now? Can I see you?" Cortana asked, intrigued.
"No, I reside in a Monitor's shell, and I am not on Tipoca City. I, however, can meet you, if you wish, as well as your correspondent," Offensive Bias said. Cortana considered this for a moment, then, deciding it was safe, replied only one word, "Sure."
Tipoca Administrative Facility
"You have GOT TO BE JOKING!" Obi-Wan screamed at John, who simply looked at Obi-Wan. "Why would I be joking? I don't joke around a lot, except to piss Anakin off."
"You're giving your MJOLNIR armor to the clones? You already caused this much mayhem, imagine what thousands of you might do!"
"They're not Force-Sensitive, nor are they trained for 8 years non-stop realistically and had been in 27 years of non-stop combat against a technologically superior genocidal religiously fanatics who thinks humans should be wiped out simply because that their God hates us, nor are they trained to prove that the impossible is possible," John said. Obi-Wan shook his head at him. "You know, both you and Anakin will be the death of me, if we continue to be at the front lines together."
"Relax, it's only a weaker version of Mark V, strength enhancement's only 150 their norm instead of 200, reaction time doesn't decrease, and the alloy's different."
"How so?"
"Remember I led a team of commandoes on Geonosis?"
"Yeah, I saw them, they had shields, correct? That was why they glowed like there was a deflector shield surrounding them."
"Yes, I combined both the alloy and the armor the commandoes had to create this. The alloy is hard but light, and generates its own shields according to its properties," John explained. He spent several nights with the Kaminoans and Cortana to devise the armor up. He was not a bout to abandon it.
"What else is new, John?"
"I added ion repulsor jetpacks with the ion jets having secondary functions."
"Don't tell me what those are." They're silent for a moment, as they looked at the manufacturing facility where the alloy was being produced. For now, as they were being produced, the troopers would have to use modified clone commando armor, being lighter without the pack.
One month later, Helona 15th, 22 BBY
Hyperspace, Lucrehulk-class Battleship #1087
"We are disengaging hyperspace in 1 minute 37 seconds, commander," a pilot droid reported to Commander Merai, who was in charge of attacking Kamino, with instructions left by Dooku himself.
"Good, soon, Kamino will fall, and victory is inevitable," Merai murmured. "Prepare to launch the Landing parties. Let's hope we can take out their facilities without them finding out what happened, or else a lot of clones will come crashing down on us."
But, as the fleet, which consisted of 2 Lucrehulk-class battleships, #1032 and 1087, 35 Munificent-class frigates, a number of smaller Trade Federation supply ships, holding the main droid attack forces, and 20 Recusant-class Destroyers, emerged from hyperspace, they met something unlike those they've seen, save for a much smaller version on Coruscant.
A network of satellites was orbiting the planet, and the instant they appeared, a shield snapped on. They instantly noticed arrays of auto-turrets and orbiting defense units charging up. Before they had a chance to react, they fired. The result was devastating. Most of the Recusant-class frigates were destroyed, and a narrow few were badly damaged, struggling to fire. Supply ships were nowhere to be seen, destroyed by the massive firepower that they just received. The satellites began to charge again.
"Release all of our fighters, now!" Merai ordered frantically. On the tactical screen, fighters were launched out of the hangers, speeding towards the shielding units and satellites, but suddenly, pin-point lasers shot them down. Those of pulse-composite beam cannons. Merai swore. The battle was getting out of hand. "Raise our shields! Fire those turbolasers now! I don't care whether they'll overload, just try and destroy the defense network!"
"Sir, Delta-7 Aethersprite starfighters detected ascending from planet, shields have opened a gap, and they are engaging our fighters. Two crafts, identified as the Azure Angel and the Pillar of Autumn are heading towards the fleet, with 22 other Delta-7 fighters in position behind them. 20 Acclamator-class Star Frigates are detected heading towards our position from the moon," the pilot droid at sensor-op station reported. All of the ships dispersed in all directions, engaging everything within sight. They kept up their barrage, hoping that it'd work. Unfortunately, it didn't. One by one, the ships were destroyed by coordinated fire. However, the act of random movements was enough to allow Merai's ship, along with 20 Munificent-class Frigates to blow a hole in the middle of the shields, allowing everything to pass through.
Battle of Kamino
"Got another one!" Anakin called out as he flashed by, a fighter exploding as his cannons blasted it apart. John, nearby, was rolling around dodging missiles and proton torpedoes, while using vulture droids as cover. One by one, the Vulture Droids were destroyed, being hit by their own missiles or the torpedoes launched by the capital ships.
"Alpha Squadron, converge up and follow me," John said as a group of Delta-7s modified for the clones appeared. They're slightly slower and less maneuverable, but retained the firepower and added proton torpedo launchers. They staggered their lines, then suddenly formed into an arc and fired their torpedoes at the ship, with John's twin concussion missiles following. The Recusant-class ship detonated under the powerful shots to its exposed reactor. "Next target labeled, Laser Designator locked-"
"Sir, they have destroyed a section of the shield, and are sending droids down, an invasion is confirmed. All stations, AAA turrets, AA turrets, Particle Cannons, all on standby. Every system is green," Ground Control reported. John grimaced. Despite all the work, they weren't expecting a Lucrehulk-class battleship to appear, much less 2. The first one wasn't even damaged; the shots directed at the ship were taken away in a suicidal attempt to protect the ship by the smaller destroyers. John turned towards the planet, and saw the other Lucrehulk-class battleship, and a swarm of fighters.
"Alpha, Beta, converge up and attack that Lucrehulk, position marked, let's go," John ordered as he fired up his slipspace drive to maximum power, allowing all the Delta-7s to enter in. They entered, -
-half a second later they appeared in the midst of the battle. All the Vulture Droids paused; they couldn't compute why the enemy suddenly appeared in their midst. While they know of the existence of hyperspace, the routes entered into the computer, but the sheer closeness of the planet forbids such jumps, so unless the planet was destroyed, hyperspace jumps like that was impossible. However, they still had a job to perform, so they fired and continued their assault.
John was in the midst of the midst; his cannons flashed as he weaved through the mass of enemies, the area in front of him lighting up as he passed by fighters. Vulture Droids promptly detonated as his lasers scorched the propulsion system. His particle cannons fired, blowing apart more fighters with 2 shots. Within the span of seconds, he fired, barrel-rolled across, fired more, spin upwards, and emptied his payload. Four concussion missiles streaked across, splashing across the Lucrehulk-class' hull. Small holes were seen, but nothing critical was hit.
23 Vulture Droids were destroyed in that maneuver. Another 50 were disabled from the power leakage to one of the antennae. 70 down, another trillion to go. Anakin, what was that word again? John said through the bond. Through it, he heard Anakin laugh, then responded with a series of Huttese curses that he never heard. On second thought, no thanks, Anakin. He was suddenly hit with several laser blasts. 5 Vulture Droids were behind him.
They weaved through the entire outer atmosphere, John in an attempt to shake the droids off, and the droids attempting a lock-on to fire a pair of Proton Torpedoes. John then decided on one of the craziest thing he ever did: allow them to lock on. He was going to use the maneuverability of the torpedoes against them. He swerved around to the Core Ship and slowed down but kept his trajectory straight. A tone was sounded signaling lock-on. He toned it down, just like back on the obstacle course that he first worked with Cortana on. He looked backwards. 10 torpedoes followed.
None hit him.
John immediately kicked his ship into high gear, looking as if he was dodging the missiles when in reality he was trying to use the enemy ships as cover. But torpedoes had good sensors and wouldn't be fooled easily. So, he sped up on a Recusant-class Destroyer, and fired the particle cannons. The shields collapsed as he flew through, but just collapsed. The missiles went into the ship along with him. As he turned, he fired 2 bolts. The shield collapsed and converged just as he left. The missiles collided, completely overloading the shielding system. There was a loud explosion as the reactor shutdown as the surge overloaded the system and the failsafe activated. He turned and fired all his cannons at the exposed reactor. There was a breach.
The Recusant-class detonated, the shockwave passing over John's fighter. It wobbled, then began to lose power, as the reactor took a surge from the shields.
"Fuck!" John exclaimed as he started to plunge down towards the surface, his reactor inoperable. He weighed his options. He could jump out or ride his ship down and crash. Anakin swooped past, his blue fighter and green lasers evident in the background of red and blue.
"Hey John, what the shebs is going on?" Anakin asked, as he covered for John while John hurried to initiate his secondary reactor. His primary was completely burnt out for some reason even though it shouldn't, but it was, so he had to hurry up before he burns up in the atmosphere. There was a flicker of light.
The secondary power unit was online, a fusion core, which, while not enough to support the weapons system and the main engines, were enough to power the shields and secondary engines, which combined with maneuvering thrusters should be enough for a landing, a crashed one at that.
"I'm going down! Mayday, mayday, this is Sierra-117, I have lost control to my engines, primary reactor is inoperable and I am beginning a semi-controlled descent – no – tumble, into the atmosphere, standby for pickup, repeat, this is Sierra-117, I have lost control and is going down," John said into his radio, hoping that the controller at the ground station could hear.
"Roger sir, we have fighters dispatched, two will be acquiring your signal and entry points," a clone pilot said.
"Roger that, Sierra-117 standing by, over and out," John cut the transmission, and a countdown appeared, to time when he was going to crash. He angled his ship better, and fired all the thrust he could manage. The ship plummeted downwards, and a laser bolt caught his shields. It dissipated as he entered the atmosphere. "Oh this isn't good."
His ship started to heat up, but John was ready. He checked the systems, making sure they were online, then waited. One minute… two minute. He ejected when he was 15,000 feet above, and, like paratroopers, free-fell, to Tipoca City. He activated his jetpack at 1500 feet and landed slowly onto the landing platform where his ship was now a smoking pile of trash. He looked inside, scavenging for one particular piece of equipment... which was not there. Fortunately, the slipspace drive was not damaged, strangely enough. The crash jolted the compartment holding the drive loose, and it was ejected 5 feet away, hidden by the smoke on John's approach. He picked it up and stored it in the wreckage where the CIS wouldn't find the ultraviolet radiation amidst all the other wavelengths.
He looked up as the clones landed, and he locked into their comm. Network, and using the broadband connection, called FLEETCOM K. "All ships, form a defensive network around Kamino, defensive shield has a breach around coordinates 30 67' and 87 94' 76", converge and position so that no more landing parties can be dispatched." John said and closed the connection. He had work to do: repelling the droids that landed. Just as he was leaving, however, a soft gold glow appeared, and a monitor appeared. With a jolt, John realized this was Offensive Bias
Unlike Mendicant Bias, this one was in a Monitor shell, but apparently much stronger. Yet, unlike Guilty Spark or Pentient Tangent, this one glowed a pale gold much like his saber did. "Greetings, Reclaimer," Offensive Bias intoned. John frowned noticing all the Forerunner AIs called him Reclaimer. "Come, we have much to do to save this planet." And with that they were warped away.
Slipspace, August 12th, 2556
Aboard Assault Carrier Shadow of Intent, en route to join the Battle of Kamino
"Excellency, we are ready to exit slipspace," a Sangheili Major reported to 'Vadum.
"Good, we will exit and hopefully strike right into the Separatist fleet in moments, warriors, prepare to land, we shall burn those droids to scrap," 'Vadum ordered. Across the hanger bays, the Sangheilis and Unggoys readied themselves in the new dropships. They were a hybrid between the Pelican, with its reversible engines, and the Phantom, with the gravity lift, larger troop carrying capacity, larger vehicular carrying capacity, and multiple cannons. Unlike the others, the dropships used 3 gauss cannons, and 6 miniguns.
"Fleet Master Vadum," Fred called from the Supercarrier Trafalger. "We have exited Slipspace… the enemy fleet is quite large, we're engagin at this moment."
"We are exiting right now as well, warriors, prepare for battle." The Battle of Kamino had just upped a notch.