Time/Date: 14 years after Emergence Day

Location: Ephyra, Tomb of the Unknowns

"We REALLY need to get out of here."

Jaden was forced to agree. "Ra Cailum, this is Jaden: can you beam us out of here?"

"That'd be a no. something's screwing with the lock on your biosignatures, and I'd rather not risk it, personally. You'll need to get out in the open. Pinkerton out."

"Wonderful," Larcei remarked dryly. "Well, any ideas?"

"Well, we can't stay around here!" Marcus looked at the goggles-wearing Alpha Squad member. "You're Baird?"

"Yeah, I am; What's it to you, asshole?"

Before Marcus could respond, suddenly there was an earth shattering scream, causing everyone to stand up straight. "Quiet!" Baird hissed. "Don't. Move."

"The fuck was that?" Jaden hissed, pulling out his rifle again.

"It's a Berserker," Baird replied. "She can hear us… she can smell us…"

"Oh man," One of the Gears soldiers started to panic, "We gotta get out of here, we gotta get fucking out of here, man!" The soldier ran forward around a corner before Marcus could stop him… before the Berserker got him, and the images the shadows showed off was all they needed to know.

"Ok, we need to be VERY quiet."

"What we need is the Hammer." Marcus put his finger to his earpiece. "Anya, this is Delta: we have a Berserker in the area. Is the Hammer of Dawn still online?"

"Yes, but your window is closing. Fast. Get outside and get outside quickly!"

"So… what's a hammer of dawn?" Jaden whispered as they creeped away. "And how will it kill it?"

"Seriously? You don't know about the Hammer?"

"Pretend I don't."

Dom gestured to Marcus. "His father designed it. It's a laser satellite network: as long as they're overhead, you can blast anything to nothing. Comes in handy."

It sounded a lot like the phasers used by the Starfleet people, only bulkier.

A screech forced them to dodge as the Berserker entered a larger chamber. It was completely naked, blind and covered in seemingly bulletproof skin.

"…and here I thought the Berserkers XCOM dealt with were ugly… " Jaden muttered.

The Berserker's head perked up, looking right at him.

"…oh Fuckberries…"

The being rushed at them, screaming like a banshee before the three rolled out of the way, the Berserker slamming into a series of decorative columns. "Door's sealed shut. Might as well use the bitch for something." Dom pulled out his handgun, tiptoeing in front of the door before firing the weapon, getting her attention. Like a quarterback with tunnel vision, she ran right at him.

Dom ducked and rolled out of the way, as the Berserker rammed into the door - busting right through it.

"If it works, RUN!" Jaden shouted, as the group charged out of the room before the Berserker got back to its feet. "That hammer better do what you say it does, Private!"

The Berserker stopped briefly before turning back at them, the blindness working in the humans' favor as it missed Marcus by inches.

"Next room. Sidearms only; this thing's completely bulletproof." Jaden was having trouble with the silence: even lightened with Starfleet engineering techniques, the MJOLNIR wasn't designed to be stealthy. "Starting to wish Pinkerton was down here; he'll kill that thing with his bare hands."

"Come on, man. Nothing can kill a Berserker except maybe a flamethrower and the Hammer."

"Uncle Ron's pretty tough," Larcei commented. "Not only is he naturally tough, but he got captured by a cybernetic hive-mind and… absorbed into it. He's free of them now, but the cybernetics couldn't be removed - they make him even tougher."

Neither Gear believed her. But it did attract the attentions of the Berserker, which ran at the door once again.

Larcei rolled out of the way, revealing one final chamber. "Screw this. A phaser at setting eight should punch through that thing's hide."

"I'd rather not risk your life on that, Larcei!" Jaden said, before ducking as the Berserker swung at him. "Oh fuck this!" The Berserker tried to punch Jaden again, however the SPARTAN jumped over the creature, before kicking it in the back - his augments and the power of the armor proving to be enough for to at least send the Berserker falling to the ground for a few moments. "Lily! Door! Now!"

"Right!" Lily nodded, as ROV-R moved towards the door - using its built-in laser cutter to slice off the locks to the door. The former XCOM engineer then kicked the door open.

THe Berserker reacted to the sound of the door falling, Lily jumping out of the Berserker's way before Marcus pulled out a bulky laser designator. "Marcus, drop the Hammer!"

The red beam impacted the Berserker, which didn't see its' death coming as the beam of light impacted the Locust female, burning through the skin in seconds.

"Ra Cailum to away team; one of the satellites just fired dangerously close to your position! Respond!"

"Larcei to Ra Cailum," Larcei said. "Had a Berserker - not the type we know, but it's what the locals call it - show up, and according to them that satellite, the 'Hammer of Dawn', was the only way to kill it."

"Next time, use a phaser."

"We considered that, Uncle, but the Hammer was faster."

Marcus tapped his earpiece. "Control this is Delta. We're clear; Berserker's dead."

"Copy that, Delta, I'm patching in Colonel Hoffman now."

"I take it Colonel Hoffman is your superior?" Larcei asked.

"Yeah." the COG comm popped.

"Report."

"We've got what's left of Alpha and the resonator. Minh's badly wounded, though."

"Hmm. Standby."

Dom looked at the skies. "We'd better get moving. It's going to get dark soon."

"Agreed," Larcei remarked. "We'll need to either set up a camp somewhere or find someplace with actual beds."

"You really aren't from around here if you didn't get what I meant." Dom shook his head. Larcei blinked in confusion, but before she could respond the radio spoke up again.

"Delta, new orders. You're to deploy your resonator at the Lethia Imulsion facility."

"Shit never ends," Marcus muttered. "We're clear for Ravens."

"Negative: Locust presence is too hot for our birds to land safety. You'll need to get there on foot. And you're in charge, Sergeant Fenix, as of now."

"…roger that," Marcus groaned. "We're moving. Delta out."

"Typical," Baird muttered, "Don't give the smart guy the promotion. No, no. Give it to the jackass instead."

"So, we gonna haul ass to the factory, or what?"

Jaden shook his head. "Nope. I got a better plan. Ra Cailum, do you read?"

"Ra Cailum Shipwide Morgue: you stab em, we slab em. What can I do for you, Spartan?"

"…I'm not gonna ask. Just send down a couple of Warthogs. Shielded, preferably."

"Two warthogs, a fuckton of ammo and two 'pods, coming right up."

"What the hell are-" Baird began… before a pair of four-wheeled vehicles appeared from out of thin air along with crates of supplies. "WHAT THE FUCK?!"

THUD! THUD! A pair of heavily armored walkers marched into the square, Jaden moderately annoyed by the Ronopods. "I just asked for the Warthogs."

"You need more firepower than the 'hogs can provide. My niece is down there with you; deal with it."

"I'm not complaining, I'm just saying they're—"

"HOLY SHIT!"

"A little much."

The two Ronopods stilled, awaiting commands from Jaden and the away team.

"Awww fuck YEAH!" Cole shouted, pumping a fist up, "We've got motherfucking walking tanks now bitches! The cole train's back on track!"

"Where the hell—"

"You do NOT want to know how we got those things. Just get in the damn jeeps."

The Locust, in spite of their use of Berserkers as the shock troopers from hell, were actually matriarchal: they answered to a queen.

And this queen was rather… human looking. The bitch in question was Queen Myrrah, an unknowing descendant of human researchers that studied the ancestors of the Locust.

"Hmm. Interesting. Humans with technology like this are a threat to our plans for the surface." Two of the queen's Kantus escorts stayed behind her, maintaining a respectful distance.

"Send whomever you can spare to intercept them." She ordered, "I want the strangers alive… one of them, at least."

A Theron Guardsman bowed to the queen, hissing in acknowledgement as it turned to leave - several other Therons standing as they moved to follow.

"So… when did Gears have THOSE?" Franklin said, pointing up at the towering Ronopods which stood at the entrance to the Stranded outpost.

"We don't." Marcus pointed towards the sky. "Someone upstairs decided to send us some help."

Franklin laughed. "God himself sent those things? Fuck me."

Dom groaned. "There's a fucking spaceship in orbit. They got guns that look like mini-Hammers of Dawn, and one of them took a Lancer to his armor and shrugged it off!"

Marcus was tempted to take his Lancer and shove it up Franklin's ass. Sure, the Hammer strikes were… extreme, but when you don't know how to deal with an enemy, extreme's all you've got.

"I ain't gonna bother, Santiago. I know you, but I don't know these guys. And I ain't doing THEM any favors."

Jaden glanced around the Stranded outpost, sighing as he activated his communicator "Jaden to Ra Cailum, could you beam down someone with a decent amount of medical supplies, food, and such on our location?" He asked.

"One moment." Crates began materializing, scaring the shit out of the Stranded before a single tower of light appeared, depositing Jaden's nominal commanding officer near the supplies, trademark compression rifle in hand. "Surprise, motherfuckers."

The Spartan blinked. "Uh… Why did you beam down?"

"One, boredom," he said. "I can only sign so many PADDs before I have to get up and shove a pike up something's ass, and two, I want to see what you're up against. It's kinda my thing: see what the hell my people are fighting, throw myself at it and see which one of us wins. Usually, it's me."

"What the fuck?!" Franklin shouted, pointing at Ron, and then at the supplies, before back at Ron again "How-wha-who-THE FUCK?!"

"Quantum teleportation, it's above YOUR head, I just came down here with supplies you need and I'm Captain Ronald Pinkerton of the United Federation of Planets Starship Ra Cailum. Now that I've answered your questions in the order of your asking, shall we get these supplies distributed, or do I have to kill someone first?"

Franklin wanted to argue, but… firstly, this looked like a man he did NOT want to fuck with. And second: they just gave them practically gift wrapped supplies they've been needing for a LOOONG time, and he wasn't stupid enough to refuse. "Fuck it… fine. I… I need a fuck'n drink…"

"I have something very strong if you need it."

The sky then started getting dark. "Shit, the Kryll are comin' out soon."

"Krill? Like the shellfish?"

"I fucking wish…" Franklin shouted, before letting out a whistle. "Get those lights on people! Night time's coming unless you wanna be Kryll chow!"

The Stranded responded very quickly, as any floodlight, ceiling light, and flashlight was snapped on as the skies continued to grow dark.

"I've got a bad feeling about this…" Lily muttered.

Jaden chuckled dryly "Took the words right out of my mouth."

Suddenly they heard the sounds of things flying overhead. Many things. And they were HUNGRY.

Ron walked up to the barricade and extended his arm into the black.

"Whoa, man, the fuck are you—"

"Trust me, the man is IMPOSSIBLE to kill." Jaden said. The things began hitting his shields, trying to tear his limb to pieces.

"Hmm. I'm considering keeping a few as pets," Ron mused, pulling his arm back. The Gears and Stranded stared at the captain.

"The fuck. You stuck-you stuck your HAND into a kryll swarm! And you're FINE?!"

"Personal shield generator. I can go fifty rounds with a gorilla and win without them. With them, there are few things that can hurt me."

Dom just nodded. "Well, we're not so screwed after all."

"I'll retool your shields to put out a UV pulse," Ron said. "Should kill them if they get close. Just remember to take cover: you won't be bulletproof anymore if I do this."

The Gears all looked at one another, before shrugging "Shit man, we've been fighting Locust without shields for ages," Dom said. "If it keeps us from turning into Kryll-chow, do it."

Ron twitched his head for a second. "Sorry, had to pull up the specs."

Baird raised an eyebrow. "Pull them up?"

"I'm a cyborg: 70% machine."

"DAMN! And I thought I was a machine! The train's got nothing on you, man!"

The captain pulled out his tricorder and began making remote modifications to the shields worn by his away team. "Stick to the vehicles, keep the locals within arm's length: UV range is 8 meters. Outside it, you will die. I'll stay here and try to get those things domesticated."

Sad part was, they believed he could do it.

"Well, let's get going," Larcei remarked.

The team reboarded their vehicles, Ron departing the camp to walk into the Kryll swarm. "Fucking crazy, man."

"Hey, he stuck his arm into that swarm. I think he'll be fine."

"Let's rock and roll people!" Jaden said, stepping behind the wheel. "Ain't no rest for the wicked!"

"You sure you can Driiiiiaiaaaaahhhh!" Larcei and Lily shouted as Jaden floored it as the Warthog sped forward. "WHY GO THIS FAST?!"

"This is how your suppose to drive a Hog!" Jaden laughed, as he drove the LRV up a small ramp, gaining a bit of airtime. "Fuck I missed driving these things!" He blinked. "Oops, forgot my music!" He pulled out a small data disc, before sliding it into the radio of the Hog. Moments later…

BGM: Polkas y Huapangos - Los Dos Laredos (Otherwise known as the RvB Warthog theme)

"Spanish polka music?!"

"When it fits!" And it did. It fit SO well...

"Turn that shit off!"

Well, most people liked it. Marcus and the Gears did not like it.

"Oi! When you learn how to drive one of these things, THEN you can pick the fucking music!" Jaden shouted back.

"Come on," Dom said, looking from the back seat. "It can't be-" he looked at the controls, and blinked. "Wait… why are there six pedals when there are only four directions?"

In orbit, the Ra Cailum continued to track the course of the two 'hogs. And Takeshi was getting antsy. "Take, sit the hell down. I can't exactly afford to recarpet the bridge, and you're starting to wear a line in the deck."

"Usually Ron is up here. I'm good at running a ship with 50 people on board, not a superdreadnought with over 3000 people on board."

"Could be worse."

"Don't say it, Luna," Takeshi told her. "You know Murphy as well as I do, and what happens when you tempt him."

"We usually let Ron deal with Murphy."

"He's down there." The swordsman finally had enough. "I'm going down there."

"Takeshi, you KNOW the rules. Besides, you have no idea what's down there beyond 'it's hostile and everything wants to kill you'."

Takeshi scowled. Unless absolutely necessary, either the captain or first officer had to remain on board.

If anything, Ron knew Takeshi couldn't run the Ra Cailum: all the micromanaging would drive him INSANE in a day.

Takeshi sighed. "Going to need to see if I can find another candidate for the XO position, so I can move to the Firestorm full-time, and have less restrictions on going on missions."

"On this ship? No one wants the job!"

"I suspect Ron knew that. Get the away team on the horn."

Cassie and Corpsa shared a look before the AI opened a channel. "Spartan Takeo, this is Ra Cailum. The acting captain wants a status report."

The channel opened, and the bridge crew winced as they heard a loud acordion music in the background, followed by a shotgun blast "YEAH, HOW'S THAT BUMPER TASTE, ASSHOLE!" A voice shouted, before there was a short cough. "Ahem, yeah, this is Takeo. We're currently heading towards an Imulsion refinery plant - we're helping the Gears deliver some weapon called a resonator to hit the Locust in the hollows. We're about to enter the woods."

"Resonator?"

"Some kind of sonic device. Sound waves can be lethal."

"Only at close range, Lieutenant: it's likely it's more like a mapping device."

"Oh, that sucks! Why can't that thing just shake the ground apart?!"

"Because it doesn't work that way if it's man-portable."

"Either way, the Gears are ordered by their command to do this, so we're just gonna help them survive." Jaden said.

"I've got a lock on a strong radio signal, Commander. I can beam you to their command center if I wanted to."

"No, contact Ron; I'll leave this in his… capable hands. What about your team, Jaden? Any injuries?"

"Uh… not exactly." Jaden said, "A few bruised egos, and Larcei's spooked because the Kryll - creepy as all hell flying things - are a few feet from the jeeps."

"We saw them tear some Locust that stepped into the shadows into mincemeat," Lily added on the comm. "That shit… geez… "

Takeshi knew his daughter may have been unnerved, but Jaden's voice had more… concern in it than it had a right to. Sure Larcei considered her like a brother, and vice versa, but… He was going to need to head down there soon, maybe use his Psionics to find out just what was going on there.

"Screw the rules." He muttered, "Find out where those Warthogs are going."

"Aye, sir. Captain Pinkerton's requesting a site-to-site transport to beam into the populated city. Should I wait until you've gone down, or the other way around?"

"I'll wait until he's gone down," Takeshi replied. "He's probably going to try and speak to their leadership, and that's a bit of a priority."

"Aye, sir."

Jacinto, Tyrus

"Colonel, do we have anything further on the people giving aid to Delta Squad?"

Colonel Victor Hoffman looked at Chairman Prescot, his technical superior. "Sorry, sir, I've got nothing, except for the fact they're highly trained, packing some serious guns and the Kryll are pissin' off from them."

Prescot hummed in thought. "Could the report be true… " he muttered. "Could they be from space?"

"Big place space is," Hoffman shrugged. "Hell if they kill Locust, they're friends of ours."

"The last thing we need is another threat." Prescot said, "I want to speak with whoever is leading these people."

A shower of light appeared in the command center, less then a meter from Anya Shroud's post, causing her to jump as man deposited by the shower of light sighed loudly. "If running were less of a pain in the ass, I'd've walked here. Surprise, motherfuckers."

Both men stared at the newcomer, who seemed to scream 'bored out of my mind'. There was also an aura of… death around the man. If anything ran into him and tried to kill him, he would win any fight. "So, who's in charge here?"

Hoffman was about to order security, but Prescot raised his hand. "That would be me," he informed, stepping towards the man. "Chairman Richard Prescott, of the Coalition of Ordered Governments. And you…?"

"Captain Ronald Pinkerton, captain of the USS Ra Cailum, representing the United Federation of Planets." He nodded, "Gotta say, Chairman, nice place you got here. I presume you glassed yourselves?"

Prescot rightfully winced. "We… didn't have much choice. Our enemy—"

"I have the basic details from Delta Squad, Chairman. I just want you to know that you're kinda fucked. You're losing this war of yours."

"You're not telling us anything we don't already know, Captain."

Ron was taken aback. "Huh. I expected denial. Usually people hate it when I say they're losing."

"This is our last chance to turn the tide, sir," Hoffman said. "If we fail, humanity dies."

"I… FUCK, my morals are going to screw over my crew one of these days," he muttered. "I might have a solution. I'm just going to need some help making it."

The leaders all looked at one another, before looking back at Ron. "Building… what?" Prescott asked.

"One of my allies has designs for a colony ship." Ron answered, "I can build as many as you need to evacuate from this planet."

"Are you saying we're to abandon Sera?!" Hoffman shouted, "We've fought 15 years against these inhuman bastards—"

"You are LOSING THIS WAR, Chairman. Sir, with all due respect, it's time you considered other options. My people can help you hold the line until the ships are completed, but it's time to face the facts."

Prescott sighed, closing his eyes for a moment, seeming to be deep in thought. "…how long would it take?" He asked, "These colony ships… how long would it take to build enough to house all the people of Sera?"

"Prescott-"

"Colonel," The chairman spoke before Hoffman could begin his protest. "The Captain is right… we are losing this war… for all these years, we fought the Locust believing we had no other choice… we had to fight to survive. But now we finally have a new option… we may lose Sera… but the planet isn't what's important. It's the people."

"A while. Three years at least. I can provide most of the resources, but I'll need a lot of manpower for the shit my shuttlecraft can't move into position."

"Three years? Captain, you just said this is our last chance; if this fails—"

"Then you'll be screwed and my option's still the only one open to you. I just need anyone willing to pick up a wrench. I don't care who they are." The COG chairman and Colonel thought about it. The man was asking them to abandon their homes.

But they were backed against a wall, and this was their last chance. "Captain, we'll accept your offer, with a request."

"Name it."

"Help us with this operation, help us fight the Locust. Give us the time we need to build your ships."

Ron shrugged. "Done. Now, mind if I jump on the comms?"

Prescott nodded, glancing at Anya who picked up one of the headsets at her workstation, tossing it over to Ron, who grabbed it.

"Pinkerton to Delta Squad: surprise, motherfuckers. I'm BAAAAAAAAAACK."

"How the fuck did he hack into our comm channels?! Control, are you reading this shit?!"

Ron scoffed. "I'm at your command center, Baird," he said. "I'll provide tactical support from here, as well as serve as a relay between you and the Ra Cailum."

"I-fine, whatever." Marcus said, "We've almost reached the facility - Kryll are starting to piss off now that we're in the woods and out of the city. We'll keep you-" Marcus growled - as Ron noticed the background music "WILL YOU SHUT THAT SHIT OFF!?"

"It's the classics!" Ron heard Jaden retort, "Perfect driving music right here!"

"Jaden!"

"Oh, fuck. Yes, Captain?"

"Turn that shit UP!"

"Don't you dare, you son of a—" Ron grinned as the music came in over the airwaves at full volume. "PINKERTON, I'M GONNA KICK YOUR ASS FOR THIS!"

"I tanked Kryll. I even managed to knock a couple of them out. What can you do to top that?"

"I'LL FIGURE SOMETHING OUT YOU-" Marcus's voice was droned out as the music increased, and Ron grinned.

"People have been trying for a long time. I'm still here."

The three people in the room glanced at one another. "You… don't seem to have many scars from those attempts."

"Trust me, I've been thrown some nasty shit."

"I'll… take your word for it," Prescott replied.

"Shoot me."

"What?"

"Put a gun to my head and pull the trigger. I'll be fine. And because I'm asking, you're exempt from my usual 'try to kill me, I kill you the fuck back' rule."

They all looked at him as if he was crazy.

Hoffman reluctantly pulled out his snub pistol and took aim at Ron's head.

A bang was heard over the comms, and Larcei began to panic. "What happened?!"

"Relax, Larcei, I was just proving a point."

Takeshi's sigh could be heard over the comms. "Ron… you are one crazy asshole," he said.

"Proving a point?"

"He probably asked someone to shoot him. And lo and behold, he's not dead."

"He's fuckin' crazy."

"Old news to the crew of his ship." Jaden said, "That's why no one leaves: they're all as crazy as him."

The Warthogs came up to a set of iron gates, as they slid to a halt - Jaden finally turning the music off (much to the Gear's pleasure) as they dismounted. "I'm guessing this is the place?"

"Yup. We get underground, plant that thing and get the fuck out. After that, we kick the fucking grubs in the teeth with a lightmass bomb. War's over, we win!"

"I doubt it's going to be that easy, Dom. It never is." A flash of lightning was seen overhead, and the Gears watched as a few Wretches ran across a rooftop. "The fuck was that?"

"Looks like those wretches…" Jaden muttered, "But they looked… weird…" He turned to the gate, as he pulled out his phaser pistol. "Give me a moment here, let's get this gate open." He put the phaser on a low setting, before he easily cut open a hole in the gate, large enough to allow all of them through.

"Control, this is Delta. We spotted glowing Wretches."

"Yeah, your reports say lambent ones pop up near imulsion." Ron paused. "…I'm going to patch in my ship's doctor." Marcus was beginning to really dislike Ron.

Blase attitude, worse than Baird when it came to being an asshole, and he was keeping Anya off the air.

"This is Doctor Rutia Yulanra on board the Ra Cailum. You morons reading me?"

Jaden chuckled. "We read you, Ma'am." He said, "Yeah, we've got glowing versions of those… Wretches the Gears call them."

"They're Lambent," Dom informed. "Locust exposed to Imulsion turn into them… and they tend to explode because of it."

"DAMN IT! The one time I get to kill things that explode on their own and I'm stuck here!"

"Calm your shit, captain. You'll get to shoot exploding things soon enough."

On second thought, Marcus' opinion of the captain was veering away from dislike to neutral. He wanted to face the exploding locust by himself.

"If you can, make sure you get one of those things in more or less one piece. I want to take it apart."

And the doctor was just as fucking nuts.

"Right. Let's split up. Cole, Baird, you take one way. Dom and I'll take another. Split up your team the same way, people: we need equal firepower here."

"Aw man, I don't know man," Cole shook his head. "That sounds like a bad idea."

Marcus glared at him "I'll be sure to take that under advisement, Cole." He said. "Now, move it."

Cole rolled his eyes "Yes, Sir!" He said, saluting sarcastically before he and Baird left.

"Damn, Marcus…"

"He'll get over it." He said, as he and Dom went another way.

The ground opened up as a tall, lanky Locust and several other drones emerged from a hole.

The kantus growled as he searched the area outside for the new human threat. These weren't the Gears they were used to. They were better equipped. One even walked into a Kryll swarm and came out fine.

"Serve the Queen!"

They had humans to kill.

Marcus forced open a pair of sliding doors, Jaden and Larcei covering his back. "So, you two actually work for that asshole, Pinkerton?"

"Yeah… well, it's complicated." Jaden answered, "I'm actually from a different universe from Ron's, where I served the United Nations Space Command, or UNSC. Since I'm no longer there, I work for Starfleet, at least until we can finally return to my universe, from there… well, I'll think of something. "

"Huh." He picked up his Lancer again and walked into the dark room. Inside was an old TV, a couch…

BANG!

And an idiot with a shotgun who just fired it. "CEASE FIRE!"

The Stranded dropped the Gnasher, the smoking shotgun dropping to the floor. "Dipshit." "Finally! The rescue team! I was getting worried that I'd—"

"Die here? Still might. We're looking for the cart control room. Where is it?"

The Stranded blinked, looking at the soldiers, "Well… uh, you'd have to get down to the factory floor, through that door." He pointed towards the other door in the room. "But… it's locked."

"Can you help us unlock it?" Jaden asked. "We'll make sure you get out of here in one piece, mister, but we have another mission we need to do that's just as important."

"We aren't leaving?"

"Not yet." Marcus shook his head."Come on."

The Stranded man picked up his shotgun, Marcus shaking his head. "Dipshit."

"Screw you, you facist bastard!" The Stranded muttered, "We haven't forgotten the Hammer strikes, you know!"

"I didn't exactly have a say in doin' that, bub."

"You still left people to die when those lasers fired off! You killed a lot of people!" A feral scream caught their universal attention. "THe fuck was that?!"

"That…" Marcus checked his ammo count. 60 bullets, full mag. "Would be the Locust welcoming party."

"Just stay behind us," Jaden said, pushing the Stranded behind them. "Stay in cover, let us handle this."

"You're… not Gears?" he asked, looking at his and Larcei's uniforms.

"Long story, but no." Jaden informed, pulling out his own rifle. "For now, we're your best bet at getting out of this hellhole in one piece pal."

Bullets came at the Gears and their allies, fired from what looked like a machine pistol held by a tall and lanky Locust. "Ok, that's a new one."

"Kill it with bullets." Marcus popped his head out of cover, firing his lancer at the lightly armored locust, who decided to leave by running to a window and jumping out.

"The fuck was that thing?"

"Who cares? Let's just get the fuck out of here!"

"Don't worry," Jaden said, as the new Locust came back in from another window, charging at Jaden with its own Lancer primed-

BAM

-only for its head to go flying off as Jaden punched it with his armor's full strength. "We've dealt with worst freaks than him," he added, depolarizing his visor to show them his smirk.

Larcei sighed, shaking her head even as she smiled. "Showoff… "

The drones wanted nothing to do with that guy.

He punched off a Kantus' FACE. They wanted nothing to do with that shit.

So they'd let the Lambent deal with them. Simplier to let the exploding ones do the work.

Larcei was thankful for Rov-R and her tricorder, which allowed her and the Gears to stay on the support beams. Although the groaning metal when Jaden started his own walk. "Uh… how old is this place?"

"Been around long before the pendulum wars," Marcus answered, "Not exactly well maintained after the Hammer strikes 15 years ago… "

"Meh, I've seen older." Jaden said, walking over some wooden planks. "Back when I was in the UNSC I had-" suddenly the floor gave away, and Jaden dropped down, followed by a loud snarling sounds.

"Jaden!" Larcei shouted, rushing over to the edge, looking down for her lover in worry… not that she had much to worry about. The Lambent Wretches clawed and bit down against his armor… and doing almost nothing in terms of damage, not even scratching the paint.

"I swear, these things are more annoying than Grunts," Jaden muttered, grabbing one of the Wretches, and snapping its neck before stomping another one with his boot.

He was not expecting them to explode seconds later. "Ok, that's not fun." Jaden muttered, wiping off the blood. "I half expect those little furballs on the Ra Cailum to explode next!"

"He's working on it!"

Jaden did not doubt it. The crew of that ship were CRAZY.

But it was a crazy he could get behind. "I found a way up! I'll make my way to you!"

Jacinto

Ron decided to have Adama and Drake beam down, as they would be needed for the discussions on the building of the new refugee ships. "Admiral, I know this is not what you were expecting—"

"Inhuman monsters are trying to kill the human race. Your fight with the Iconian bitch was weirder."

Ron thought about it before nodding. "Good point. Either way, we're going to need the Colonials help for this. They don't have helicopters to spare, and my shuttles lack the gentle touch your Raptors have."

"Say no more," Adama nodded. "Their situation with the Locust is too damn similar to ours against the Cylons - we'll pitch in where we're needed, Raptors and Vipers - way I hear it, their own birds could use some escorts."

"Do it."

The doors opened to the command center, with Prescot and Hoffman conferring with their teams in the field. "Captain, your teams are at the facility and ready to deploy the resonator."

"A sonic device won't map their tunnels. You'd have to flood them out."

"That's not an option, Captain. The lightmass bomb is our last shot. And who are these gentlemen?"

Ron gestured to Drake. "Captain Adrian Drake, commander of the UNSC Saratoga and de facto commander of the UNSC forces in our fleet. The older gentleman is Fleet Admiral William Adama of the battlestar Galactica, who has offered his support with gunships and fighters. Just to keep the skies a little friendlier. They're all shielded, so don't worry about that."

"Hot damn," Hoffman chuckled, "It'll be nice to have some friendlies in the air again, haven't had a proper fighter squadron sortie in a long time."

"The Captain will be providing designs for the colony ships. They'll be modelled after the colony ship we have in orbit, with a few… modifications. While I'm sure you don't want to run—"

"We know when we're going to lose, Captain."

"Well. Either way, those ships will be aiding in our own escape from this universe." Ron informed, "Our FTL drive is overstressed, and the colony ships will help. I was planning on refitting some of the ships to help, but I'm killing a flock of birds with one rock. I save as many people as possible here and I get to keep my ship's warp nacelles from exploding."

"I cannot begin to thank you and your people enough, Captain Pinkerton." Prescott said, "We may lose Sera, but so long as the people survive, that's good enough for us."

"I'll have my engineers set up in an isolated area." He said, "Locust attacks would slow down construction."

Anya raised a hand from her post. "Colonel, Delta's detonated the resonator." She informed, "Data is coming in now!"

Ron approached the command post, shaking his head as the information came in. "Useless. Network's too large for a single sonic device to map. We might have to use my ship's sensor array to get you your targeting data."

"Hang on… " Anya said, pulling up a screen - showing the Geobot Baird recovered, "This Geobot is showing off much more data than the Resonator. "

"Do we have a zero point on that data?" Hoffman asked.

Anya looked through the coordinates "Sir, well… " she blinked. "It… came from the east barricade Academy… from his father's house, specifically."

"Whose Father?"

"...Sergeant Fenix, sir."

Hoffman put his finger to his earpiece. "Think you can still find your way home, Fenix?"

The Gear didn't respond. He didn't need to. "I'll contact the Ra Cailum; I'll have a team of MACOs in that location inside two minutes."

"You sure your people can handle East Barricade?"

"MACOs are the elite of the Starfleet Marine Corps. There are VERY few things that can withstand facing them. Hell, give them five minutes and every Locust within two kilometers will be a dead corpse."

"…I feel as though you're exaggerating, but if they can help clear the area, I won't say no," Hoffman said. "Fenix, Raven's en-route. Get ready to head home, Marcus."

Takeshi was not in the mood to carry anything short of his katana, but after his wife beat his head in, he reluctantly put on a PSG and had a modular phaser rifle in carbine form on his back.

He preferred the more honorable way of combat, it was how he'd been raised, after all, but after getting his ass handed to him enough times in actual free-style combat spars with that cheating bastard he called his captain, he had to adapt.

That said, he was currently on the ground with the MACO teams at East Barricade, his Plasma Katana chopping through Locust like butter - and he once again thanked Lily Shen for coming up with such an excellent weapon.

A pair of King Ravens entered the area, escorted by a pair of Colonial Vipers. "Viper 45 to Commander Yamato: trying to commit suicide down there?"

"I've got shields—"

"For once!"

"Oh, shut up. I'll be fine unless they've got something like the hammer of dawn." A loud scream signalled the arrival of a Locust Berserker, and as Takeshi wasn't exactly being silent, it was zeroing in on him.

He also didn't have Ron's augmentations, so he REALLY didn't want to get hit.

However, he had his Spatial Awareness, which, with the awakening of his Psionics, had increased to near-ridiculous levels, and his reaction time was greater than even Ron's.

As such, as the Berserker brought its fist down, Takeshi rolled out of the way, before slicing off one of its legs with his plasma blade.

The massive female drone screamed as it felt the loss of her leg, right before Takeshi shoved the blade through the Berserker's head. This wasn't the time to worry about honor; the Locust were going to kill them by any means possible.

Takeshi's thoughts on that were confirmed when a squad of Drones pointed their weapons at him. "Die, human!"

Of course, as they opened fire, another advantage of his enhanced Spatial Awareness and his reflexes made itself known, as he started using the blade to begin swatting bullets out of the air.

Of course, while he had that, he didn't have the added power of a positronic brain to calculate EXACTLY where the bullets would impact, so quite a few rounds impacted his shields.

And by few, read more than 80. Takeshi was spared further embarrassment, however, when the King Ravens finally arrived, firing their 15mm gatling sideguns at the Locust, tearing them apart as a man wearing a do-rag and a unique semi-powered armor stepped out of the craft. "You're fucking stupid, you know that?! I don't care if you got those fancy shields, you SHOOT the grubs, not stand around swinging some fancy sword!"

Takeshi sighed. "Everybody's a critic," he muttered under his breath, even as more Locust appeared from their E-Holes, Takeshi taking advantage of how preoccupied they were with climbing up to charge into their midst and begin slicing them to pieces.

Unfortunately, Takeshi was not precognition, and was taken off guard by a large explosion hitting his shields, knocking him to the ground.

"BOOM!" The massive drone that fired the shot calmly reloaded his weapon before a phaser beam decapitated it.

Takeshi shook his head before a hand extended itself down to him. He took it and his vision cleared, showing it to be Larcei. "I hate to agree with Uncle Ron, but you ARE being really dumb. You're putting yourself in far too much danger, and unlike your psychopathic brother in law, you don't have a head as hard as steel."

"Actually, it's harder than diamond."

"That's SEMANTICS. I'm not going to be the one to tell kaa-san that you were so focused on using that sword of yours that some idiot with a rifle or grenade launcher killed you."

Takeshi sighed. "Alright, fine…" he said, before deactivating and sheathing his sword and drawing the carbine from his back.

He hated guns. But he was starting to get the point.

Which started with Ron using a VERY accurate caricature of him charging at a bunch of Klingons before he stepped into a minefield, which promptly killed the caricature.

Takeshi had never forgiven him for the embarrassment he suffered that day.

In orbit, Corpsa was getting a LITTLE tired of the stupidity. "I could fire a single burst into that city and take out every Locust within half a kilometer. Damn it, our people are down there and the captain won't let us take the simple way out!"

"You know the rules, Corpsa: unless the captain gives the order, we're defending the fleet."

Corpsa groaned, leaning over the consoles looking at the controls angrily. "I know the rules, of of all the Captains in Starfleet, Ron would be the FIRST to take the more practical route… " she muttered.

Sonja was forced to agree. But Ron wasn't willing to cause damage to their objective unless the risk was acceptable. "Incoming transmission from the captain."

"About time. Put him up, audio only."

"Sonja, weapons free. Our idiot XO nearly got himself killed playing samurai down there."

"I thought he knew that samurai in the face of modern weapons were useless."

"He's a stubborn idiot, Sonja; you know that. Maybe that grenade to the side he took will teach him a lesson."

Corpsa smirked. "About fucking time!" she shouted, taking control of the Phasers. "Phasers armed and ready! Give me a target Captain!"

"Larcei and Jaden will provide target designation. Burn them to their constituent atoms."

"Clear the area! Get the hell to the manor, now!" Marcus glanced at Jaden before continuing to fire at the Locust. "Why?" "Remember the Hammer of Dawn? Think that, only about a hundred times worse, and it's coming down now!"

As the Hammer was able to kill Berserkers in seconds, that was bad. "Fuck me. Delta, fall back! Get to Fenix Manor and secure the area! The spaceship's got our backs!"

Jaden started running as well - but noticed Larcei and Lily were a bit slower. Sure he didn't doubt that they'd make it themselves… but he wasn't taking any chances, slowing down long enough to pick both of them up. Larcei 'eeped' slightly. "Jaden, wha-"

"Not taking any chances," He said, getting back to running at full speed. "Hang on you two!"

The drones decided to follow them, although much slower.

Their mistake.

The skies lit up as a beam of energy impacted the ground, enveloping the entire area behind the Gears. "HOLY SHIT!"

The dazed XO shook his head. The Ra Cailum just leveled 50 acres of land to deal with a small army of enemy troops. But that wasn't his real focus. Instead, that was on Jaden and the two women he was carrying.

He seemed to be a bit too concerned about their welfare. Takeshi decided it was as good a time as any, and reached out with his psionics. Delving too deeply would be noticed, but he could read surface thoughts at least.

'Not taking AAAANNY chances,' Takeshi heard Jaden think. 'Not losing them, either… especially not now…'

'He can carry both of us, and barely slow down?' Lily thought. 'Well, I guess that explains his stamina last night…'

Takeshi blinked. Last night? Stamina? That meant… well. Once they were done here, Jaden was likely going to be paying sickbay a visit. The girls, too, but for different reasons, given what he was getting from Larcei herself.

Well, this explained Ron's reaction to him dating Luna back when he was teaching at the Academy.

Granted, Take actually thought Ron was trying to KILL him, but that was a tale for another time.

Which he ignored in favor of the manor that was currently in ruins in front of him.

"This is your family home, Fenix?" Larcei asked with a low whistle. "Damn… pretty impressive."

"Yeah. Kinda fucked me over."

Takeshi didn't want to know. "Get inside, get the data, and then we leave."

"Since when do you give us orders?"

"Commissioned officer, and you know the house. As Ron would say, it makes sense. So get inside and get the data so we can get it to that bomb of yours."

Marcus grumbled, but nodded as he and Dom went deeper into the house to aquire the data.

"I doubt the Locust are just gonna go away even after that show of force," Jaden said, looking out a window. "We should probably get ready for company… "

"Ground force, Galactica Actual. I'm vectoring a pair of Raptors to provide air support. Don't get yourselves shot."

"That'll help."

"Two raptors? We'll need a lot more then that to clear the city."

Ron's voice cut in seconds later. "One raptor will pick you up, the other will clear the LZ for you to get the hell to the bomb. Which is on a train, I might add. Now get that targeting data."

Jaden nodded "Roger that, we'll be ready," he said. "Just let us know when the Locust decide to show up again."

"That would be now. We're picking up major seismic activity, and it isn't natural, if you get my meaning."

"The shit never ends."

"Oh, it'll end. Ron might just lose his patience and unleash some kind of bio-weapon."

"Don't joke. He's got 30 torpedoes fit with nanotech that will kill ANYTHING he wants them to kill."

"Wait, he still has those?" Jaden asked Takeshi. "I would've thought he got rid of them after we took care of the Ethereals."

"Yeah, he still has them," Takeshi replied. "They may have originally been made to deal with those assholes, but Ron is nothing if not resourceful - if he makes something but doesn't use it, he keeps it around in case he runs into something to use it ON."

"The man's paranoid."

"He said something about something as bad as the Undine that he wants to kill off. I think he'll get his chance." Ron had mentioned seeing something in that Ethereal's head. And it came from Jaden's mind.

He called it genetic memories surfacing, and wanted to be ready for the flood, whatever he was talking about.

"Control to assholes: prepare for additional weapons fire. Mwahahahahaha!"

A Raptor flew overhead - its weapon hardpoints now sponsoring Starfleet-grade Phasers among other weapons, before opening fire on the emergence holes before Locust could start pouring out. However it wasn't able to get them all at once, and multiple Locust still spilled out onto the surface, opening fire on the building.

Jaden returned fire - picking up a Lancer on the ground, deciding to give the Gear's weapons a test run of his own. A hail of armor-piercing bullets cut through the incoming Locust. The rifle had its fair share of kick, that was for sure - but it did twice as much damage against as his old MA37 did. And the chainsaw…

He heard a roar from below, as a Locust Theron Guardsman crashed through the door. Jaden leaped down, revving up the chainsaw, and slamming it against the neck of the Locust, blood shot out from the creature as Jaden cut the beast apart.

...oh he was going to LOVE this gun.

Takeshi grabbed his own Lancer from Dom, who was using his preferred Hammerburst. After pulling the trigger just once, he knew that Ron was going to LOVE this gun. The chainsaw was going to be a plus for him; it provided a melee option.

…Forget Ron; HE was going to love this thing! A bit bulky, but that was easily solved! Especially after Lily and Sonja got through with it and gave it what he was beginning to call the XCOM treatment - make more advanced versions that were basically the same just with more powerful equipment.

…Heck, he could just imagine it with a PLASMA chainsaw, just like his new katana! The thing could tear through anything short of Neutronium at that point, and maybe even that!

Another lance of nadion particle energy impacted the ground, vaporizing everything in front of the house. "Raptor 794, callsign Boomer, to ground forces: ETA on data download?"

"Delta to Raptor 794: data download is in progress! ETA two minutes!"

"Make it sooner: we got something in the air! Big and tentacled, and I've seen enough porn to know where this is going!"

"Ah shit, REAVERS!" Marcus shouted, and no sooner than he finished the statement, a loud roar echoed through the air as three of the creatures arrived at the battlefield, their gunners opening fire with their Troika's down at the building.

"Great, NOW I'm thinking of Rule 34! Thanks a lot, Boomer!"

"Frak you, asshole!"

"Baird, Boomer, just KILL THE FUCKING THINGS and get to the train. Mobius four and seven are en route now to give better air support. Don't die in the meantime. Pinkerton out."

"Time we get moving then!" Jaden shouted, opening fire at the Locust mounts. "Is that Data ready yet?!"

"Done! We've got it!"

"Then it's time to MOVE OUR ASSES!"

The Reavers landed before firing on the Gears, right before a pair of Peregrine-Class fighters lanced through their bodies using their forward phaser arrays. "Mobius 5 to ground team: enemy force is down. Get to the Raptor."

"No need to tell us twice!" Boomer's raptor set down briefly, just long enough for the hatch to open and the team to get aboard.

"Thank the gods for Henderson, or I'd never be able to take off with this load!"

"Get us to that train, Boomer!" The Cylon pilot closed the hatch before the Raptor took off, heading for the train station.

"Well, that was fun."

"Yeah, it was," Takeshi remarked. He then looked at Jaden, as well as Lily and Larcei. "Spartan, once we get to the ship, I'm going to want to… spar with you."

Jaden blinked in confusion "Huh?" he asked. "Well… okay, I guess, but why?"

Takeshi smiled. "You should really learn to guard your surface thoughts more," he told him, even as he turned to Lily and Larcei and said, "And the same goes for you two on the thoughts department, though the two of you are going straight to sickbay to get checked over by Rutia when we get back."

Both Lily and Larcei paled slightly, realizing that Takeshi was on to them… Jaden, on the other hand… "Surface thoughts?" he asked. "I don't get it."

Larcei sighed. "He has Psionics, Jaden-kun…" she muttered. "Do the math."

Jaden thought about it for a moment, psionics - involved telekinetic abilities, and can control and read… minds…

Oh.

OH.

OH.

OH.

"…Ohhhhh…" Jaden was wishing very hard he, Larcei and Lily could up and vanish from the face of the world right then and there.

"Don't worry, I won't kill you…" Takeshi said with a bit of a dark chuckle. "You'll most definitely need to see Rutia later, though…"

Ron the True Fan: (Wilhelm Scream) HA! Fuckin' grubs. Well, that took a while, but we cleared them out. Oh, look. Just in time for the next posting. In case the readers are wondering, this particular chapter was finished on September 8th, 2016: Star Trek The Original Series' original air day. Happy 50th, Trek! (52, really, if you go by production and you count The Cage…)

117Jorn: Hard to believe it's been 50 years already…

Takeshi Yamato: Yeah… and about 30 since the debut of TNG, as well… still hard to believe I was born the same year that TNG started up…

Ron the True Fan: It will go on, as long as people continue to watch it, and believe in its' message that we can be better then we are. Gene Roddenberry, you glorious bastard, I hope you're smiling wherever the hell you are, and I hope you're reading this! Enjoy the Odyssey!

Ja Ne!