And now we begin with the next chapter. After the last two chapters, the story will now start getting back on track, and where it goes next... well that might surprise you.

Disclaimer: I do not own Star Wars, Halo, Mass Effect or any other franchise that appears in this story.


Natasi Daala walked through the halls of Starkiller Base, her mood increasingly frosty today. Her failure to secure the support of Boba Fett and the Mandalorians hadn't exactly endeared her to Supreme Leader Snoke and his underlings.

Which was just as well, as her own knowledge of what the First Order was doing hadn't thrilled her either. The cloning operation on this planet was already questionable, as it had been during and after the Clone Wars, but then there were the rumors of the First Order's alliance with Cerberus.

From what she had heard of that human-supremacist organization, even the Empire at its height would've been unwilling to work with them. The atrocities they'd committed were unforgivable, and if it got out that the First Order was truly working with them, it could cost them all the goodwill they had managed to gain.

After getting scanned by the guards outside, she strolled into the Supreme Leader's office, where Hux and Snoke were already in discussion, which paused when they noticed her arrival.

"Admiral, what an unexpected surprise." The Supreme Leader said, his eyes narrowing. "To what do I owe this interruption?"

"We need to talk about Cerberus." Daala crossed her arms. "Specifically the rumors I've been hearing that you're in an alliance with them."

"And where did you hear that?" Hux growled, his glare hard enough to penetrate durasteel. "What makes these rumors so important that you'd barge in here unannounced?"

"Because they're more than just rumors, aren't they?" Daala's eyes narrowed. "I've found communication logs where you've been speaking with the Illusive Man. Care to explain that?" Hux moved to speak again, but Snoke raised his hand to cut him off.

"I suppose this was inevitable." The Supreme Leader sighed. "It would explain what you were doing after the Mandalorians told you to piss off."

"Don't change the subject." The ex-Chief of State snapped. "Cloning an army like this is bad enough, but working with monsters like Cerberus? You're becoming dangerously close to becoming the next Palpatine."

"Funny." Snoke chuckled. "And I thought you still preferred his methods, even when you were head of the Galactic Alliance. It certainly would explain your more reckless actions." He could see Daala's anger growing with each word, but spoke again before she could cut loose. "To answer your question, yes, I've worked with Cerberus. But as a means to an end, nothing more."

"So you're just fine leaving them loose in the multiverse?" The ex-Admiral asked incredulously.

"Of course not." He activated the holoprojector, producing a recording of Vestara's 'interrogation' with the Illusive Man. "Which is why I had Vestara and Inferno Squadron infiltrate his base and execute them. Without a leader, Cerberus will no longer be a problem." He of course neglected to mention ONI's involvement, or the fact that he still had control over the remaining Cerberus cells.

"You should have told me sooner." Daala said after a moment. "If our current supporters find out about this, then we will lose their help very quickly."

"Duly noted." Snoke said, crossing his arms. "Now if you'll excuse us, we were in the middle of a private meeting." Daala paused, then turned on her heel and left.

The two First Order leaders watched as Daala left the room, then Snoke made sure to activate the privacy enhancers. "If she didn't like that, then she's really not going to like this next plan." Snoke murmured, reactivating the screen he had shut down earlier.

"I'm afraid I'd have to agree with that stance." Hux admitted. "I agree that she needs to be... 'retired,' but this?" He gestured to the hologram. "This is unwise, Supreme Leader."

"Perhaps." Snoke admitted. "But unwise or not, we could use the aid. Even with our current support, the largest factions in the IDA are still beyond us."

"And an alliance with them won't change that." The General countered. "Even if they were enough, I sincerely doubt that they'll be willing to share power."

"We can deal with that when it comes." Snoke replied. "But you know the saying 'the enemy of my enemy is my friend.' We cannot afford such a pointless conflict if we are to obtain dominion over the multiverse."

"They may not be so willing to join." Hux said, knowing he had lost the first part of that argument. "Especially if Phasma's report as true. He clearly hasn't gotten over our conflict."

"And yet, Laccabeus is working with the Shadow Collective." The Supreme Leader said. "Surely, he can put his grudge aside for that much."

"I hope you're right." Hux sighed. "Still, if we ally ourselves with them, we must move carefully. Being seen openly colluding with those two factions will erode our support."

"Agreed." Snoke nodded. "Then I suppose it's settled." He stood up. "The First Order will ally with the Shadow Collective and the Banished."


The world of Syni IV was a fairly quiet world these days. It's history was unremarkable, having not seen any major conflict since the time of the Empire. Unfortunately for the inhabitants, that changed today.

Screaming rent the air as dozens of missiles impacted their lines. Several buildings collapsed from the blasts, while survivors stumbled out from the wreckage, some of whom began digging our more.

Unfortunately, many of them were caught in the blast of the plasma mortar volley, further damaging the city. Galactic Alliance troops were forced to retreat even further as the combined Banished and Shadow Collective forces began to overwhelm them.

The two factions had gotten bolder, that much was clear. Of course, it wasn't like they could expect reinforcements any time soon. Technically speaking, this world wasn't part of the GA, given its location in Wild Space.

The colonists of this world were rather individualistic, refusing to join the New Republic due to their experiences with the Galactic Empire. Despite this, the New Republic and later Galactic Alliance kept their relationship civil, allowing them to keep their independence.

A minor embassy had been created on the planet, but ultimately the world didn't have much value, and only a token security force was present. Which was why it was perplexing when a large force of the Banished and Shadow Collective attacked without warning.

They landed outside the capital city, having easily broken through the local defense fleet and satellite defenses. With such a large and unexpected attack, the militia was caught with their pants down, and suffered heavily from the resulting artillery bombardment.

The few GA soldiers on planet did what they could to rally the militia against such a ruthless assault, but now the airstrikes were beginning, as the scream of Banshees and the roar of bombers echoed through the air, plasma and explosives shelling the ruins even further.

With such chaos, it allowed the two criminal factions to approach, with a Mobile Pulse Cannon shattering what little defensive walls remained even further. This allowed Wraith Invaders and F9-TZ transports to enter, bringing troops into the walls of the city.

Dropships further allowed this invasion to commence, deploying more armor and infantry as the Shadow Collective and Banished hammered their way through the civilian populace.

However, what most didn't realize was that the allied factions were searching for something, with a Defiler and Pavium taking their own squads with them as the rest of their forces crippled the city.

Soon, they arrived at the location they were seeking: an old office building that had once been used by Imperial forces as a temporary headquarters. Pavium turned to the Defiler with a questioning look.

"This is the location." The red armored soldier lowered the scanner. "The signal's coming from two hundred meters below."

"Well then." Pavium launched a grenade at the locked door, blasting it open. "Let's see what's inside."

The two platoons began tearing the building apart, looking for the way to get to what they sought. The signal in question was what had drawn them here in the first place, as a message had been sent to the two criminal organizations, completely encrypted with only the text: "We need to talk."

It didn't take long for them to trace the location, but it was clear that someone was merely using this location as a comms relay. Of course, the allied forces could've probably sent a covert operative to find their way without tearing this planet's civilization apart, but Atriox and Maul saw this attack as a way to divide the GA even further, spreading their forces thin as they rushed to the rescue, by which point, they'd be long gone.

Eventually, one of the Banished Huragok had located the elevator that led to the signal. Scouts were immediately sent down first in case it was a trap, but fortunately that wasn't the case.

The soldiers entered into what could only be an old Imperial era bunker, hidden even after all these years. The place had been ransacked, with equipment removed from their racks and lockers empty, leaving little clue as to the bunker's original purpose.

What was left was a computer, looking slightly newer and less dusty than it should've been. When the Defiler and Pavium got a closer look, they could see that the signal connected to an old hidden comm relay, which encrypted the signal it transmitted. Here however, they could decode it, and once they did, two sets of eyes widened.

"Contact Lord Maul..." Pavium's eyes narrowed. "And Atriox." The Defiler hastily amended. "They're going to want to hear about this."


Once more, the heads of both factions had met up in a simple camp, this one set up near a Shadow Collective outpost. Omega hovered in orbit, relaying the signal that Pavium and the accompanying Defiler had found.

It was surprising to say the least. The First Order wished to ally with the two criminal factions, with Snoke's frequency given for them to contact. Laccabeus in particular had been adamant against such an alliance, which wasn't exactly an isolated sentiment.

"I don't trust them." Savage said bluntly. "Snoke seeks to use us for his own ends."

"That much is clear." Atriox nodded. "But we can also use the First Order for our own gain."

"Indeed." Maul turned away. "If we play this right, we can force the First Order to follow our whims."

"So we're going to contact them?" Laccabeus asked incredulously. "You can't seriously think that this a good idea."

"Mind your tongue Shipmaster." Atriox snarled, fixing Laccabeus with a glare. "Lest I decide to remove it." Laccabeus met the Banished leader's stare, but ultimately refrained from speaking further.

"Excellent, then we are agreed." Maul said, with a small smirk at the altercation. "I suppose we shouldn't keep them waiting."

...

Meanwhile, Vestara Khai and Captain Phasma walked into the First Order's private ready room, with General Hux and Supreme Leader Snoke already present and waiting. Unsurprisingly, Daala and Ilsa Zane were missing, meaning it was mainly the First Order's business.

Vestara inwardly paused at that train of thought. Technically speaking she wasn't actually a member of the First Order, and yet... where else would she turn to. At that moment, it occurred to the Sith just how alone she was.

All the other Sith Orders had been wiped, with the Lost Tribe and the One Sith having been destroyed during the Great Flood War. Oh there was still Maul and his brother, technically the last surviving members of the Order of the Sith Lords, but it was clear that those two were barely as capable as Darth Sidious had been.

She realized just how much she owed to the First Order, and how lost she'd be without it. She couldn't go back to the Jedi, it just wasn't in her nature, and Ben would never leave the Jedi, for the same reason she could never leave the Dark Side behind.

But now, she followed the whims of someone who wasn't a powerful Force user, which would be the ultimate indignity to many Sith. And yet, she didn't have anything else to do herself. Oh, she could try to take control herself, but she had no direction, no idea on how to lead them, let alone a goal to aspire to. And that was assuming she could defeat Snoke, who was no slouch in combat thanks to his training as one of Vader's assassins.

She truly was alone and aimless. She inwardly snorted to herself. How her father would be so disappointed if he could see her now.

"Thank you for coming." Snoke's greeting drew her attention the meeting at hand. "Forgive me for summoning you both on such short notice, but I've chosen a new course of action for the First Order."

"So why do you need us here?" Vestara asked, crossing her arms. "What's so important for us to here if you've already made up your mind?" Snoke gained a small smirk before activating the controls on the holoprojector.

"Vestara," a hologram of Omega appeared. "I believe you're familiar with the phrase 'enemy of my enemy is my friend,' are you not?"

"You want to ally with the Shadow Collective?" Phasma was incredulous. "What could they do for us?"

"Help us fight the IDA." Snoke replied. "Even with all the support we have, trying to take on the major powers would be suicide."

"That won't really change if we do ally with them." Vestara pointed out, unknowingly echoing Hux's arguments from earlier. "Even with his alliance with the Banished, that won't be enough to stop the IDA."

"Not if they're united." Snoke agreed. "But we've seen the cracks, the divisions among them. Hell, we're already profiting off of those divisions. With our combined strength, we'll actually have a chance to take control ourselves."

"It will also make us a bigger target." Phasma pointed out. "Giving the IDA a common enemy to focus their energy on. Not to mention a lot of our support will be lost if we work with them."

"Assuming the IDA knows about it." The Supreme Leader countered, and at that moment, Vestara realized where he was going with this. "If we play our cards right, no one will be any the wiser, and we can use the Shadow Collective and the Banished to terrorize their factions-"

"While the First Order offers and provides security and stability." Vestara finished, nodding in approval. "A good plan."

"And what happens afterward?" Hux interjected, his tone clear that this wasn't the first time he had asked that question. "Neither Maul nor Atriox will bow to our rule, assuming we succeed of course." Snoke opened his mouth to interrupt, but the General wasn't finished. "And even if we are able to placate them or take them over, what about the Republic and Separatists? What do we do about them?"

"As I have told you before, General," Snoke snarled, sending a withering glare in Hux's direction, who actually winced from it. "that is something we will deal with in due time. None of those questions matter if we do not have the means to attain our goals, and to that end, we will be better off with them as our allies, than our enemies."

The holocomm unit signaled an alert, interrupting the argument. It was clear that Maul and Atriox had gotten the message and were already contacting them. Snoke looked at the rest of the First Order leaders with narrowed eyes.

"My decision has been made." He said with a tone of finality. "You may not like it, but this is what will happen. Understood?" Once everyone gave their affirmations, Snoke activated the holoprojector, creating two miniature images of the Banished and Shadow Collective leaders. "Greetings, Atriox, Lord Maul." He inclined his head to each as he spoke. "I take it you have received my offer?"

"An interesting proposal." Maul admitted. "With our combined strength, the IDA could very well fall before us all."

"However," Atriox interjected. "we are not going to blindly agree to such an alliance."

"And what do you propose, Chieftain?"

"A face to face meeting." Maul replied. "A gesture of trust while we discuss the further details of such an alliance."

"And where do you propose we meet?" Snoke asked, a slight feeling of worry crawling up his spine. His expression didn't change however, so he didn't betray his thoughts.

"A world in the Terminus Systems known as Deinech." Maul replied, as the coordinates and file on the world was transmitted. "I have several locations for us to meet at."

"Unacceptable." Phasma interjected, stepping forward angrily. "We will accept a neutral world, nothing else."

"We don't exactly trust you." Atriox gave a low growl. "For all we know, you want to lead us into a trap."

"By all means, bring as much security as you like." Maul said calmly, then his eyes narrowed. "But make no mistake, this will take place in our territory. If you truly desire an alliance, this will be how you prove it."

"Agreed." Snoke said before anyone else could speak up. "Send us the time and location. I will meet you there." The hologram vanished, and seconds later, another transmission came through, detailing the coordinates and time for the meeting.

"Supreme Leader, you're making a mistake." General Hux protested. "We can't just bow to the wishes of these criminals."

"Nor do I intend to." Snoke replied. "This will give them the feeling of control, to think that they hold the cards. It's a necessary sacrifice for the time being." He turned to Vestara and Phasma. "Lady Khai, you shall accompany me to the meeting itself. Captain, you're in charge of the security detail. And bring Zane along. It won't hurt to have a wild card prepared."

"... Understood." Phasma said finally, resigned to this course of action.

"Good. And one more thing: Not a word of this to Daala."


Several days later, the First Order ships emerged from hyperspace to the outskirts of this system, so as not to startle their hosts or incriminate themselves. It seemed that Darth Maul and Atriox had similar ideas, as Omega and the Enduring Conviction couldn't be seen in orbit. Moments later, multiple shuttles were launched from the Star Destroyers and headed toward the world in question.

Deinech, an ocean world in the Terminus Systems. Small islands were scattered across the planet, and it was constantly monsoon season. The government on this planet didn't exist, consisting of the typical lawlessness one would expect from the Terminus Systems.

Naturally, it was the perfect place for a meeting like this. The Banished and Shadow Collective already had contingency plans in place, specifically the presence of the Intention's Eye, which was concealed near the island they were all meeting on.

The carrier was hidden off shore, just under the water's surface. Laccabeus was sitting on the bridge of the Eye, watching from the screens as they monitored whatever they could.

The assault carrier and its crew had been chosen to be the potential reaction force if things went badly, which the Shipmaster was all but expecting in regards to the First Order. Unfortunately, because of their history with the former PMC, the Eye's crew would only be free to act if Atriox gave the order.

He knew why he hadn't been allowed to partake in the negotiations themselves: his history with the First Order meant that he was a liability to the Banished and the Shadow Collective. It was also why none of his crew members were placed near the actual meeting point. Resigned to his post, Laccabeus sat in his command chair and waited.

...

The meeting point was an old building from the early days of civilization on this world. On the outside, it looked dilapidated, and to some degree it was, but the superficial scars hid the heavily reinforced foundation, and more importantly, the concealed soldiers and vehicles. The First Order pilots could detect some of them, but were drawn from their scans as they approached the landing beacon, which was on the building's roof.

The Lambda shuttle arrived at the private landing pad, and two ranks of Shadow troopers stepped out first, the wind and rain buffeting their armor as they scanned to make sure there were no traps. Once that was done, several Phase I Dark Troopers emerged, followed by Supreme Leader Snoke, Vestara, Captain Phasma and then Ilsa Zane.

Beside them, several other landing craft approached, depositing two companies of Stormtroopers, and one cargo pod, which immediately opened and revealed Snoke's personal Phase III Dark Trooper, which joined the procession.

It didn't take long for them to be led into the building proper, where Maul's forces escorted them to a large conference fit to hold fifty people. Atriox, Darth Maul, Savage Opress, and an assortment of their guards were already waiting.

"Welcome Supreme Leader." The Sith Lord bowed, his expression and movements hiding an undertone of sarcasm. "We are so honored that you would grace us with your presence." Atriox gave a brief snort at that, but the First Order delegation gave no sign of amusement.

"Lord Maul." Supreme Leader Snoke greeted with no emotion. "Thank you for taking the time to meet us. Shall we get started?"

...

For the next hour or so, the leaders of the Shadow Collective, Banished and First Order discussed what they wanted from such an alliance, how they could help each other, and other important aspects.

That's not to say things had been completely calm: there was a moment where Vestara and Maul had gotten into a verbal sniping match over which had been born of the better Sith Order. Vestara's feats of fighting Luke Skywalker and Abeloth hadn't exactly been impressive to the Zabrak who'd kept his will when working for the Gravemind, and eventually Maul mentioned the younger Sith's tryst with Ben Skywalker.

Maul had effortlessly caught Vestara's thrown shikkar with the Force, and after a brief recession where the First Order leaders calmed their Sith down, the meeting continued, albeit a bit more frostily than before.

Still they were making progress and eventually cooler heads prevailed and little by little, an actual alliance slowly began to take shape. They had all but reached their agreements when several blasts rocked the building.

At the explosions, several indignant shouts emerged from both sides, with weapons raised and lightsabers ignited, bathing the room in a red glow. Atriox's mace joined them, but he brought it down on the table, briefly knocking everyone back.

"Enough!" He shouted before further violence could erupt from either side. Activating his comlink, it connected to the bridge of the Eye. "Shipmaster, what is going on down there?"

"A large force of mercenaries are laying siege to the building." Laccabeus replied. "They're attacking both our forces, Maul's troops, and the First Order's soldiers."

"Contact your troops." Atriox said to the First Order, ignoring the large Dark Trooper currently pointing its weapons at their side as he spoke to Snoke. "They'll tell you the same thing."

"Of course, they could just be playing innocent." Savage snarkily pointed out. "They could easily regard their little clones as expendable."

"We did not order this." Phasma protested.

"Then this is as good a time as any to prove it." Atriox said, reactivating Chainbreaker and holding the glowing mace closer to his face. "And what better way to baptize our new alliance than in blood?"

...

The soldiers of the Titan Mercenary company took cover around the seemingly abandoned building. The few defenders on the first few floors were already being overwhelmed by both numbers and the firepower from Titan's APCs and LRVs.

"They're pulling back!" Someone shouted, as it became clear that the defenders were retreating further into the building.

"Well, we can't have that." The mercenary field commander stepped out of his APC, his arms crossed. "Get some breaching charges on the doors and flush them out."

"Sir, what about air support?"

"It's still five minutes out." The Titan leader replied. "But let's not give them any more time to fortify themselves, shall we?"

Several squad leaders looked like they wanted to protest, but reluctantly they complied before moving up to breach the doors. The entryways vanished in a flash of debris and smoke, the shock and awe allowing the soldiers to breach with impunity.

At first, it seemed like things were going relatively smoothly: no one reported any sign of major resistance, meaning that they must have pulled back. Then Alpha Team abruptly vanished from sensors, which was when everything went to hell.

"What's happening in there?" The commander asked, the only response he was getting was more screaming. "Captain, report!"

"Some kind of *fzzt*, she's killing *fzzt* fuck she's fast *fzzt* need reinforcem-SHIT!" All that remained was static. And then the news got worse.

"Uh sir, we've got reports from the fighters." The comms officer in the command station reported. "You're going to want to see this!"

...

Once it became clear that the mercenaries outnumbered their current forces, Atriox sent the word to Laccabeus, just in time for a large wing of unknown fighters to pass by overhead.

"Bring us up." Makterbus ordered at Laccabeus' command. "Wipe these vermin from the skies."

The assault carrier rose from the depths of the ocean, like an ancient sea creature rising to the surface. Watery streams fell from its hull, getting caught in the stormy wind and somehow drenching the city even further.

A swarm of Banshees and Phantoms emerged from the Eye's main hanger, easily swarming through the city and attacking the mercenary formations. Screaming and gunfire rent the air, as explosions rocked multiple buildings, mostly caused by crashing fighters.

Just outside the main building, the Titan leader was drawn from his stupor as his army was destroyed, when something leapt out of the fifth floor window, jump jets activating to slow its fall.

It was a massive Dark Trooper, standing in the middle of a small crater. It immediately stood up, with two pairs of three missile pods emerging from its shoulders and a massive assault cannon in its hand.

"Scream and run, or charge stupidly." An annoyed voice emerged from the droid exosuit. "Either way, this isn't going to be pleasant."

The Titan mercenary soldiers chose to fight, which resulted in a dozen seeker missiles targeting the vehicles, with the commander barely able to escape his command post going up in flames.

He struggled to his feet, the ringing in his ears as he saw just how badly his forces were screwed. Four red lightsaber blades emerged from behind the Dark Trooper, their wielders easily carving through his scattered soldiers.

Meanwhile, pinpoint accurate fire from one of the upper floors picked off more of his men and women, each sniper round scoring a headshot every time. As his vision cleared, he staggered to his feet, just in time to see a massive Brute armed with a gravity mace reducing three mercenaries into smears on the ground.

With his army in tatters and panic dripping in his veins, the commander attempted to run, but the large Brute spotted him and he suddenly found himself flying towards him. His head was caught by the Jiralhanae's gauntleted hand, and the combined force caused everything to go black.

...

The battle had ultimately been the easy part of this: it was the aftermath that ended up far more time consuming. The newly formed alliance had been busy removing any witnesses to the their fight together, while other agents were still tracking down the officials who had sold out their location.

Fire and death had swept through this city, the Shadow Collective and Banished doing the bulk of the heavy lifting. Meanwhile, the leaders of both factions were still in the lobby of their meeting point, ready to interrogate the Titan merc leader.

The man whimpered at the sight of the two ruthless Zabraks, and the larger Jiralhanae who towered over them both. A rancid smell split the air when they realized the human had soiled himself. Satisfied that he was sufficiently afraid, Maul telekinetically lifted the leader in the air.

"I know that you did not choose to attack us yourselves." The Sith Lord said. "Tell me, who hired you?"

"I don't know, I don't know!"

"You lie!" Savage's lightsaber ignited and he held the blade closer to the gasping man's head.

"I swear it's the truth!" The leader struggled helplessly against the Force grip. "An anonymous donor offered us a shit ton of money to attack this place. If I had known that you all were here, I'd have never taken this job! Please, please don't kill me!"

"He's telling the truth." Maul said after a moment, with a mild tone of disappointment. "He genuinely has no idea who hired him."

"Unfortunate." Atriox sighed. "Then he has no further value to us."

"Agreed." The Zabrak released his grip and the merc leader fell to the floor, the brief spark of hope in his eyes. It was dashed when Maul said his next words. "Kill him."

Savage brought his lightsaber down and the body effortlessly split in two, causing the remaining prisoners to flinch in shock and terror. One of Atriox's Chosen walked up to his leader, a question on his lips.

"Sir, what do we do with the rest of the prisoners?" Atriox didn't hesitate.

"Execute them all." He turned away and followed the Sith, as flashes of light briefly lit up the dark room.

"We need to learn how they found us." Savage said. "All non-essential personnel were kept in the dark about this meeting."

"It was likely the work of the local officials." Darth Maul said, looking over a datapad. "Someone must've recognized our vessels and believed that they could make use of that information." He turned to one of his nearby Mandalorian super commandos. "Find out who it was. Make them suffer." The Death Watch soldier nodded and left as the Banished leader approached.

"I think the better question is who ordered this attack?" Atriox pointed out. "That's a mystery we need to solve."

"That we all need to solve." They turned to Snoke and his entourage. "I think someone set this up to sabotage any potential alliance."

"Rather sloppily." Maul nodded. "You do have a point. I know your reputation Snoke, and I highly doubt you would do something so arrogant like this."

"And we most certainly would not." Savage continued.

"I suppose," Snoke said slowly. "We have an accord then?" Atriox and Maul looked at each other.

"Yes." The Sith Lord said after a moment. "We have an alliance."

...

Osman sat in her office, smiling at the sight. Everything had been proceeding according to her plan. True, she had lost a fair amount of money given the dead mercenaries, but the end result would still be in her favor.

If the First Order had come out of that meeting in conflict with the Shadow Collective and Banished, then that meant all three factions would be too divided to actually threaten the IDA. If they had actually gone through with their alliance, as was indeed the case here, then she could use them to her own wishes, eventually allowing the UNSC to take them all down in one fell swoop.

Though not everyone agreed with her plan.

"Admiral, are you sure this is wise?" Osman didn't even glance away from the display as Black Box's avatar appeared. "Allowing those three organizations to join together could prove more problematic than it's worth, especially after your last meeting."

"Your concern is noted, BB." Osman finally looked in his direction. "Rest assured we still have contingencies in place. Lord Hood will see the benefit of this soon enough." She turned back to the holoscreen, showing the drone's view on Deinech. If she had turned away a moment later, she would've seen Black Box's avatar flicker for a moment.

"Understood, Admiral." The hologram projection vanished, leaving Osman alone.

...

Outside Osman's office door, two Spartan-IVs stood guard. One of the two discreetly activated his helmet comms, using a frequency and channel that would be almost completely undetectable except to the one receiving the transmission, which consisted of two words.

"It's done."


Alright, and that's the end of this chapter, and the beginning of the combined alliance of the First Banished Collective... or the Banished Shadow Order... don't worry, I won't actually call them that in-universe.

Anyway, things are definitely going according to plan, the only question is who's plan? Well, you'll just have to read on and find out in the rest of the story. Now, I'm not sure when the next chapter will be out, but hopefully it'll be sooner rather than later.

With all that said, I hope everyone enjoys this chapter and reviews are always welcome.