Vanguard

Chapter 21

"Ardent Prayer"

[Republic Cruiser Royale, command bridge, Althir System]

Jedi Knight Kail Grodam, a human male in his late twenties, and a handful of his troopers from the 152nd Strike Regiment were shoring up their last line of defense inside the command center as the unknown attackers rampages through the cruiser killing all crewmembers with zealous resolve and brutality.

It was a mere ten minutes ago when an unidentified vessel similar in size to an Acclamator-l Assault Ship appeared exiting out of some sort of portal and immediately open fired without provocation catching the larger Venator-class Cruiser and its two Consular-class Cruiser escorts off guard and with their shields down. The two escorts were quickly destroyed outright within the first seconds after contact, the first being overwhelmed by fast maneuverable fighters firing bolts of superheated ionized plasma and green torpedo-like explosives and the second being viciously dissected by the warship's precise pulse laser weaponry cutting through the durasteel hull with extreme ease. It was only after the destruction of the two escorts did the Venator finally respond to the rapid surprise attack and let off a volley of cannon fire from its starboard mounted array of four DBY-827 Heavy Turbolaser Turrets, each containing two guns, striking the main warship all across the hull but unfortunately the cannons were only at minimum charge when they fired causing all of the shots fired to collide with the vessel's advanced energy shielding with only few shots passing through and striking the vessel along its large purple bulbous prow. The armor of the ship itself was unlike anything the Republic has ever encountered, a hull comprised of thick nanolaminate armor plating strong enough to withstand against a volley of Archer-class Ship-to-ship Missiles, the three shots comprised of minimally charged plasma slammed into the hull causing very little damage to the outer hull. The vessel then responded by launching four large superheated blobs of plasma from its port and starboard launchers, located near the front, and guided them in similar ways to a cruise missile leading them to the Venator's main armament where each projectile slams into each gun vaporizing the turrets themselves outright and causing massive structural damage to the multiple decks below the gun housings. By then the Royale had already deployed its complement of fighters and bombers to engage the enemy but even they were failing miserably, despite the degree of success they gained after shooting down a fighter, and the attacking vessel had deployed gunships loaded with heavy anti-ship weaponry to destroy the cruiser's remaining weapon banks and troop dropships to begin their boarding procedure. As of now the troopers were gradually losing their ground against the seemingly unstoppable marauders with reports of varying unidentified species wielding unseen plasma weaponry, explosives, energy shielding, and military training. To Grodam, this was no ordinary group of pirates, these were highly coordinated military troops of a foreign faction unknown to the Republic, they were very effective in combat, and whoever was orchestrating this attack was a tactical genius.

A clone bridge officer rushes up to Grodam and reports "Sir! The enemy has pushed their way to the main hangar; the men are making a last ditch attempt to repel the boarders."

"May the force be with them, what's the status of the ship?"

"Our forces have been pushed back deep into the ship setting up makeshift barricades but the enemy just keeps tearing right through them, we even recorded an attack by an invisible contact in Deck five near the armories."

"Show me . . ."

The two proceeded over to the large holoprojector table where it began displaying the recording starting off with three troopers armed with blasters, one manning a EWHB-12 Heavy Repeating Blaster Cannon mounted on top of a large tripod, standing behind a makeshift barricade consisting of stacked up crates and empty cylinder canisters.

They were all standing there waiting for the enemy to come their way, the trooper on the right, armed with a DC-15A Rifle, asks "Hey, what's second squad's status?"

The one on the left, armed with a DC-15S Carbine, states "They're gone; they held the line as long as they could. It's up to us to defend the armory."

The one on the E-Web cannon was doing a last second recalibration of the weapon stating "At least we'll have this to hold them back. If something happens to us I've got the turret to go on auto tracking set on a dead-man switch."

"Good plan, but let's hope it doesn't come to that."

"Shh . .. you hear that?"

"Over there! Incoming!"

Blaster fire erupted with the three clones firing away while bolts of plasma and needle-like shards zipping past over their heads, the attackers yelling out orders in their native languages to which nobody understood. It was only moments later into the fight when a needle pierces through one of the trooper's 'T' visor, killing him instantly, causing the trooper to stumble backwards and fall on to the floor dead without a sound.

The trooper wielding the DC-15S looks over to his dead brethren and calls out "Ray!" but the trooper manning the turret orders "C'mon brother don't let up!"

Ray resumes his post and continues firing downrange putting accurate shots on target as indicated by brief cries of agony until the right side of the barricade collapsed, as if something huge charged right through it like a battering ram, followed up with a sharp hiss and a loud cry of anguish. Ray looks to his right and finds parts of the barricade scattered about and two four foot long curved blades of pure energy protruding out of the gunner's chest, and a large distortion in the air nearly taking the shape of a large bipedal figure wielding the hilt of the sword that impaled his friend through the back. He immediately turns and aims at the distortion firing off four bolts into his target, each shot impacting a solid figure reinforced with energy shielding which eventually collapsed, and this massive hulking eight foot monster materializes into view. Wearing black armor with some of its body exposed, most notably its hunched over head with four mandibles lined with teeth hanging underneath, this creature was nothing like anyone has ever seen. The clone then acted on instinct and open fired shooting the sword wielding monster several times square in the chest before it lunged swinging the sword cutting the trooper's weapon in half and seizes the trooper by the neck holding him up above the floor as it tighten its grip around the man's neck. The trooper began throwing quick low blows to the alien's lower stomach with his right arm as he hangs on to its arm that has a hold of his neck, he then throws a quick right blow to the creature's head which then angered it greatly, the alien roared with rage and its mandibles spread wide showing the innumerable amount of razor sharp teeth and drives its dual bladed energy sword straight into the clone's abdomen cutting and burning every inch of plastoid armor and flesh it came into contact with which was met with a loud deafening outcry of utter pain lasting several seconds before the attacker withdraws the blade from the clone's body and threw the dead trooper down hard into the ground before it placed its right hoof on top of his fresh kill and roared upwards with its mandibles spread wide claiming victory. The E-web cannon then activated shortly afterwards and begun firing at its targets off screen but it didn't last when the giant drove its energy sword into the turret's power supply and shuts the gun down.

The hologram recording ended with blaster fire erupting outside the bridge entrance hatch to which Grodam orders calmly "We don't have much time men, prepare for combat."

The twelve armed troopers made their way into defensive positions all aiming their weapons directly at the only possible way onto the command bridge. The fighting outside intensified as the troopers barked orders and continued firing at the approaching force, they could hear the men die as they're shot or stabbed and suddenly the fighting ceased. The troopers around Grodam tensed up keeping their aim on the hatch waiting for it to be breached in some way until a pair of energy blades pierced through and began cutting through the durasteel metal forming a large door way for more than one being to fit through. The blade gradually cuts through until it reached its end point and retracts from the door, leaving only a melted line taking the shape of a large rectangle through the door, the men inside readied themselves for the worst and that's when the hatch exploded engulfing those few that were directly behind it or next to it in a bright blue florescent blast of plasma and radiation killing them instantly while knocking a few others onto their backs. The troopers that were close enough only to sustain minor injuries got back up and fell back to secondary positions alongside Grodam as thick smoke filled the empty space where the door once existed.

"Steady . . ." the Jedi Knight orders as his men prepared themselves to fight this unknown foe.

It was then when they heard talking in a language they never heard of and suddenly a small swarm of ten small aliens outfitted with light body armor, large cone-like tanks on their backs, rebreathers over their mouths, and each carrying a weapon that either glowed light green or neon pink. The first shots were fired with gaseous bolts of green plasma and needles flying past or striking a trooper, Grodam uses his blue lightsaber to deflect the incoming bolts realizing that in their gaseous state the bolts only dissipate rather than deflect much like any other weapon. The clones fired back easily putting the small stumpy attackers down rather quickly but not without casualties and injuries, then came somewhat larger beings with bird like appearances, some equipped with shielding gauntlets, and they started to open fire with weapons similar to the ones the first wave was using. The fighting intensified with the clones taking even more casualties while the attackers only started to suffer losses when their shields fell, it takes a skilled trooper three shots from his blaster to down an opponent's shielding and a fourth to effectively kill, and when the attackers' numbers fell, four new aliens, similar looking to their shield wielding cousins but featured black scaly skin and raptor like appearances, sprang out from behind the faltering line and quickly got up close with the troopers who were unfortunate enough to be their selected targets. These new kind attackers quickly and ferociously attacked using what weapons they carried with them but once they got close things became brutal, on one instance a clone to Grodam's right fired away at the approaching attacker but the creature used its naturally impressive mobility to swiftly dodge the bolts and charges straight for the kill pouncing on to the trooper, who fell onto the floor, with the help of its strong legs and bit down hard on the clone's neck joint where no armor was present to save his life. The creature then began to shake the trooper back and forth like a crazed animal as the man cried out for help in agony, a fellow trooper tried to knock the attacker off but another alien pounced on the aiding soldier and cut down through his chest with its razor sharp raptor claws on its feet and shot him to death with a rifle capable of firing blue bolts of plasma at a higher rate of fire. The first alien finishes off its victim with a bone crunching bite crushing the clone's windpipe and tearing up vital muscle and flesh forcing the mangled trooper to stop flailing and fall limp, only then did two troopers armed with carbines change their aim and gunned the attacker down putting multiple shots into its chest before it fell dead. The two remaining hyper-vector killers finished off their prey with ferocity before Grodam cuts one down in a single sweep and the other ditches its needle-like weapon and lunges towards the Jedi and ultimately failed when a nearby clone slams the butt of his rifle into the side of its face and guns it down while it laid on the floor before it could've gotten back up.

Silence quickly filled the room afterwards when a trooper calls out "Clear!"

Kail looks around the command bridge seeing the result of the fight finding twenty two dead aliens on the floor, and from twenty eight troopers originally defending the bridge only seven are still left standing, two of which are injured but still able. It was then when they began to hear a set of heavy footsteps approaching, the troopers gathered what little strength they had left for the next attack and Grodam readies his lightsaber, and soon five hulking giants, four in dark blue armor while the fifth was adorned in red, slowly appeared through the smoke, these large creatures were easily distinguished by their digitigrade legs, grey skin, and the quadruple-hinged mandibles lined with teeth. The five large beings stood there staring down at the comparatively small troopers and Jedi through their narrow slit eyes, the troopers kept their weapons raised not firing as they began to wonder why these large intimidating creatures hasn't open fired like the rest. Suddenly one alien raises its weapon and takes aim, the troopers quickly responded taking aim at it, but the one in red armor gently placed its left hand over the top of the other's weapon and pushes it down. Grodam saw this and knew these things weren't itching for a fight, at least not yet, and were perhaps willing to talk.

So he demands "Identify yourself at once. What do you seek in attacking a Republic warship?"

The red armored giant made no response other than a low growl before it began walking around the large central holotable that stood between the two groups; the creature did not take its eyes off of Kail for one second staring into his clear blue eyes with its own yellow narrow slit eyes. It came to a stop in front of the Jedi staring down at him with zealous hatred, it then tossed its blue bulbous weapon aside and then brought out its own hilt similar looking to the Jedi's though he had never seen one of that design before.

The creature snarled once more and then spoke in universal basic with a lone tone in its voice "We are creatures of the Covenant: the path is broad and we all walk it side by side. But you . . ." it growled viciously "Your destruction is the will of the gods . . ."

It then quickly gave its hilt a twitch, causing it to erect two four foot long curved blades of pure plasma with excess heat and energy flowing off of it like a gas, and finishes "And we . . . are their instruments . . ."

The clones slowly backed away hopefully to put distance between themselves and that sword but Jedi Knight Kail held his ground with his saber ready which caused the covenant soldier to change its attitude from spiteful hate to honest respect, it then spoke with a more calm tone "At least you have some sense of honor, unlike these . . . degenerates, and you can sense your end too . . . that is good human. If it brings you any peace, the rest of your kind will soon follow."

Now realizing that this 'Covenant' only intention is to kill, humans specifically, Kail readies himself for the inevitable strike just mere seconds before the creature lunged forward with superb speed driving its sword forward in a stabbing motion but the Jedi ducks out of the way and swings his saber towards the creature to hopefully land a good blow. But the alien proved just as quick as he was when it stopped dead in its tracks and swung its sword up to counter the incoming swing. The resulting clash from the two swords was wild, showers of bolts of electricity flashed uncontrollably as each sword's plasma containment field tried to hold their ground against one another in a vicious struggle. Grodam quickly took several steps back disengaging from the aggressive being but it comes right after him maintaining the pressure on the Jedi with its exceptional swordsmanship. The two continued to deliver swings and block throws as Kail continues backing up until he was eventually pinned at the front of the bridge where one can look through the viewports and see the ensuing battle rage on. It was then when the alien finally draws the first blood, a minor cut along Grodam's right arm, forcing the Jedi to drop his saber but he in turn uses the force and delivers a devastating blow launching the eight foot giant hurtling far back as it howled in fright and slams itself into the large holotable.

The Jedi recollected his saber and looks at the blue armored beasts, who all seemed to be dumbstruck after witnessing what just happened, the red giant however seemed humiliated and angered when it roared "TAKE HIM!"

The others raised their weapons and open fired killing several troopers before they fought back but sadly they all fell before even one of the aliens was killed, then the red giant and two of its accompanying men charged the Jedi, the blue ones flanking around from the sides and the red charging up the middle with anger in its eyes. Kail knew this was it and prepared himself to die protecting the Republic, but unfortunately this was no longer the alien's intention to kill the Jedi.

The blue one from Grodam's right threw a low jab to his stomach, causing the Jedi to keel over, and disarmed him before seizing his right arm and hold him up high above the floor where it then snarls "You dare to defy us filth? You will suffer for your sins."

But the red states "No . . . Artamee' would want this human for inquisition. I will take him to the ship . . ."

"What of the rest?"

The giants looked down in the pits seeing clone officers and operators looking up at them in fear, the red then states "Kill them . . ." before taking the Jedi into his custody and dragging him off the bridge as the other four readied their weapons and begun executing the defenseless bridge crew.

It was only after killing the last clone did one of the giants hear an incoming transmission being played over a communication station close by "Republic Cruiser Royale this is the UNSC Vanguard, We're responding to your call ETA one minute standby."

The creature growled with a somewhat amused expression on its face as it states "Finally . . . a challenge after so long . . ."

[Covenant corvette Ardent Prayer, Command bridge]

Sav 'Artamee, a Sangheili adorned in the rare golden ranger-class armor and de-facto leader of the Covenant forces after the untimely demise of Ardo 'Moretumee at the hands of a bold SPARTAN-lll and a handful of marines, stood aboard the command bridge standing in front of the large holoprojection unit displaying the crippled Republic Cruiser with his arms crossed as he ponders about his next move.

A fellow Sangheili operating a console speaks in their native language "Sire, Major 'Lokutamee reports he brings a prisoner from the human ship. He speaks of things that require your attention."

"Have him escort the prisoner down to the detention bay along with our other guest; I will be there shortly to resume my efforts with the demon."

Soon a fellow Sangheili named Raku 'Kalomee, adorned in white pearlescent armor and Sav's second-in-command, steps up and asks "Sav, it has been a great deal many cycles since the incident long ago and the demon has not uttered a word other than taunts and idle threats. Why do we not just kill it already and be done with it?"

"Because brother, unlike you I have far greater patience in dealing with these humans. As long as he still breathes he still holds vital intelligence that would help us along our way with the destruction of his kind. And we know that everyone has their limits, even him."

Another crewmember reports "Sire! A human vessel has been detected coming out of the void, hull classification matches to a Human Attack Ship Class D-lll."

"Class D-lll? Are you certain?" Sav asks puzzled as to why an old destroyer like that is still in service with these larger and more technologically advanced cruiser such as the one they are currently attacking.

"There is no doubt; it is currently on an intercept course as we speak."

'For so many years without a sight of these attack ships and now one decides to show itself to us, but why?'Sav thought to himself before giving the order "Send our fighters to intercept that ship at once, I want it boarded and the data ripped from their data storage."

"As you wish Sire."

[UNSC Vanguard]

"Warning: Covenant signature detected. Hull classification matches a SDV-Class Heavy Corvette" Percival states after reconfirming the data three times already.

"What!? Covenant!?" Longarm states while he was inside the armory gathering his weapons originally believing he was going to fight droids.

"I'm afraid so SPARTAN . . ."

"Well . . . I can't exactly say I'm surprised, in fact I've been waiting to fight these bastards again. Have you informed Ahsoka?"

"Yes, she's currently waiting by the airlock. The enemy corvette is currently holding position along the cruiser's starboard aft and Covenant troops are pouring into the ship."

The SPARTAN sighed briefly as he switches his BR55HB Battle Rifle for a MA5C Assault rifle stating "We'll handle that Percival. What's the status on the cruiser?"

"Weapon systems are down and its fighter complement is heavily engaged with Seraph-class fighters and Banshee interceptors, what's the plan?"

"Ahsoka and I are going to take the Gozanti and head for the cruiser's ventral docking bay and repel the Covenant boarders, no doubt they'll be searching for star maps and data regarding UEG worlds."

"But this is a Republic warship; they don't have records of any UNSC worlds."

"Yeah, but they don't know that" he finally states grabbing the ammunition he needed before heading out to meet with Ahsoka near the airlock to the Gozanti-class Cruiser on the port side of the destroyer.

It was several minutes later when he spots the young togruta standing next to the airlock and she sees him bringing a lot of weapons to this particular fight such as the short and stocky MA5B Assault Rifle with a sixty round magazine in his hands, a M45 Tactical Shotgun latched on his back, two M7 SMGs attached to his thighs, a M6G in its holster on his chest, three M9 Fragmentation Grenades in their respective pouches around his waist, his DC-15S carbine connected to his lower back, his sharpened combat knife under his left shoulder, and his electro-staff placed on his left shoulder pad.

"Sheesh you look like you're ready for a one man war . . ." she comments after seeing all that kind of firepower.

Longarm came to a stop and opens the hatch leading into the docking tube stating with sarcasm "I'm just eager to see all my good buddies again."

"Then I guess we're ready to go."

The SPARTAN kindly gestures with his hand for Ahsoka to step through the docking tube first before he follows. Once they were aboard the cruiser they detached from the destroyer and made their way out when they at first hand saw the critical state of the Venator-Class Star Destroyer and the Covenant corvette distinguished by its smooth bulbous purple hull.

"Whoa . . . looks like your covie friends don't like the Republic all too much" she comments as she watched the ensuing fight rage on.

Longarm's mind kicked into gear as he orders "Send power to weapons and shields, banshees are easy to deal with but those Seraphs are going to make things hell for us."

"On it."

"Percival get me a line to whoever is still alive on the cruiser, I don't care who it is."

The AI states "Consider it done. I'm patching you in with a Commander Palon."

Moments later did a clone's voice, mixed in with heavy blaster fire, echo through the SPARTAN's helmet "C'mon men keep it up!"

Longarm then spoke "Commander, this is Sierra-121 of the UNSC Vanguard. We're station ready to assist."

"Copy that! These things just came out of nowhere and started boarding the cruiser!"

"Is the ventral hangar bay secured?"

"Yeah we're positioned not too far from there, I can have a couple of men meet you there."

"That won't be necessary, we'll be docking there while the Vanguard engages the enemy."

An explosive blast roars out from the commander's end of the transmission "Negative! Negative! Those things took General Grodam prisoner aboard their ship!"

"I'm afraid your general is lost, these guys don't keep prisoners very lo—"

Ahsoka quickly shoots him a look hissing "Longarm!"

He looks over to see her with her scornful look and states "We'll see what we can do about that Commander but I can't guarantee anything."

"Anything you can do will help us out, I'll see you soon!"

The transmission ends as the Gozanti slowly makes its final approach to the ventral docking bay and Longarm asks "Did you get that Percival?"

"Yes, diverting power to engines and countermeasures, I should also note I'm picking up a faint IFF tag from inside the corvette. It could be our missing general but this one seems too familiar."

"See what you can do about that, we're coming up in the docking bay now."

"Right."

The channel fell silent prompting the SPARTAN to return back to the situation at hand as Ahsoka states while flipping switches and pushing buttons "Beginning docking procedure and . . . we're secured. Let's go see about helping the boys out."

Minutes passed and the two were already walking aboard, rifle and sabers in hand, expecting initial hostile contact but the long corridors were empty and partially silent were it not for the distant firefights echoing off the walls. The two walked down the only corridor present to them with some speed, Ahsoka being somewhat casual and Longarm briskly, making their way to the nearest source of gunfire to aid the clones in their fight with the Covenant.

The SPARTAN had to ask "Why did you do that?"

She turns her head towards him "Do what?"

"That look you shot me when I said about the Covenant keeping prisoners."

"The men needs to have hope in winning this fight against your old enemy. Isn't that what your kind relied on when you fought them?"

"Yeah, I suppose you're right."

An explosion echoes off in the distance forcing the two to go into a sprint towards the source of the blast feeling the clones could be in a tight spot in their defense against the alien onslaught. The two were coming up on a three way intersection seeing blue and green bolts of plasma fly by coming from the left, Longarm flips the safety off on his MA5B cloaking himself and Ahsoka readies her lightsaber as she turns the corner to see a straggling few troopers hold their ground behind a broken makeshift barricade. She rushes up to the frontline with the pinned troopers and began deflecting shots fired from the incoming soldiers.

Quickly enough the shooting stopped and she found herself being the only thing standing between the pinned and injured troopers and a whole swarm of aliens she recognized from her vision and shooting range aboard the Vanguard. The small but numerous Grunts stood behind their higher ups with anxiety ready to shoot, Jackals and Skirmishers vigilantly watching her ready to shoot the moment she makes a move, and the towering Elites looking down at her with a somewhat amused look on their faces.

The leading Sangheili, adorned in a standard blue combat harness, calls out in its native language "Basu? Basu tan shweemu'!? Art ta mayo human aus basu wasee!" (A girl? They send a girl? These pathetic humans send a young girl to fight us!)

She didn't understand those words but it was clear to her, when they began to laugh, that this was pathetic. That was until the grunts started to tremble in fear, the jackals started to act skittish and the skirmishers squawked angrily, and finally the Sangheili's laughing face was quickly replaced with shock and then sheer anger and hatred.

It became apparent to her that they were now staring at something behind her but then the elite snarled in a low raspy voice speaking basic "Demon . . ."

Tano didn't know this 'demon' they're referring to until she turned and found Longarm standing next to her with his rifle in hand staring into the Sangheili's eyes, he orders calmly "Ahsoka, take the men and help the others retake the ship."

"What about you?"

"I'm going to get reacquainted with some old friends, don't worry about me."

She didn't bother to ask anymore and fell back to the troopers where she rallied them and led them away while the two factions, that had been waging war for the past three decades, vanished from sight for another five years, and are now facing each other down right in the eyes once again after so long.

"I have been waiting many cycles for this opportunity demon . . ." the Sangheili growled.

"So have I . . ." the SPARTAN before raising his rifle up to bear.

Neither side moved for a full silent minute until the elite drew his energy sword causing the SPARTAN-ll to start running and firing his rifle on full automatic beginning his one man assault against the Covenant boarders. He unloads the first forty six rounds into the elite, shattering his shields and piercing his armor and bodysuit, reducing him into a pile of riddled flesh and continues running and gunning shooting up the next six soldiers before ducking into a doorway, reload his weapon, and charges back out firing away killing numerous covenant soldiers in rapid succession. The exhilarating rush of adrenaline and nostalgia, after nearly five years of absence, comes coursing back through his veins as each soldier dies by his hands, every ounce of purple, and blue blood flowing from the dead, every sound of an individual bullet fired from his rifle ,and every scream or outcry of agony and death he hears. The rush and the feeling of killing every covenant bastard he ever saw comes streaming back into his mind telling him that this was who he really was, a cold blooded killer, a child soldier at heart, a real SPARTAN, the lone SPARTAN and that he needed no one to succeed in his missions. He rampages through the corridors tearing through every covenant he lays his eyes on until his radio crackled and Percival's voice came through.

"SPARTAN, I'm sending you a waypoint to the nearest docking tube the covenant hijacked to board the Royale. I'll send Ahsoka the same waypoint and—"

"No . . . these men need her now. I can go it alone" he replies after killing the last soldier in sight.

"That is highly not recommended, while I don't question your combat prowess, a corvette filled to the brim with covenant soldiers not to mention the high probability of defensive emplacements inside. You need Ahsoka's help on this."

"If she doesn't stay here then these men are good as dead. I'll jump ship and retrieve the Jedi . . . I'm heading out now."

"Please be careful . . ."

On that final note Longarm reloads his rifle one more time before sprinting down through an adjacent corridor following the waypoint displayed on his HUD making his way to the Ardent Prayer. Now ever so eager to kill more of his hated enemies for their atrocities against his kind long ago and his rediscovered lust for blood.

I would like to credit my friend, Laurent Chartier, for the creation of Sav 'Artamee in this chapter. As always leave your comments and thoughts. Thank you.