A/N : Here is the next chapter. Sorry it is a bit short, but I hope you guys still like it. Bit of a fair warning, there is a touch of fluff here but nothing major.

To Darkness21 and DaLintyMan: Believe it or not, but you guys have actually influenced me when writing this chapter. Thanks!

To FBNZ: lol!

And to Mouse: Sorry, but I think the whole Master Chief suddenly charging into battle is a bit over done in many fics here. Besides,this is set 50+ years after the events of Halo4.i think he may be retired by now.

But enough of that, now on to the fic!

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[ Infinity Descending ]

If one were not already in a state of shock after the short lived battle that took place outside the Jedi Temple on Coruscant, then sudden appearance of the U.N.S.C. Reach above the Republic capital's skyline would have surly done the job. This sudden appearance of a Terran vessel above the city skyline filled many of those who saw it with a sense of complete and utter dread, that had not been seen since the then leader of the C.I.S., Count Dooku, launched his surprise attack on the city , just a few weeks ago.

Here was the flagship of the UNSC's Andromeda fleet at the very heart of the Republic capital. A fact that was brought home when the vessel "flew" over the senate building, on it's way to the Jedi Temple. Giving all the Republic politicians that were there a good look at what the Republic military would be going up against, if they were to continue their present course of action against the Terran Union.

Many of the senators there were quick to respond and tried to get into contact with the chancellor and find out just what was going on. But to everyone's dismay and shock, all the communication lines in the building were not working. As a matter a fact, the entire communication network for Coruscant was off line. A fact that the citizens of the Republic capital werecoming upon, as many of them soon found themselves staring at blank screens and holoprojectors. Some people swore that they could see the image of a young, human female staring back at them with a smile. But their attention was soon returned to the large Terran vessel that was now settling over the Jedi Temple.

From their vantage point within the temple Prince Organa, Chuchi and Amidala could see the U.N.S.C. Reach block out much of the sky as it came over the temple and hovered. All three senators had seen the Infinity-class vessel on numerous occasions in the past, but the sight of such a massive vessel seamlessly hovering just meters above them, had every single one of them in awe.

Suddenly, the trio saw four large doors on the vessel open up and as soon as they did, squadrons of SCF-44 "Vampires" and F-41 "Broadsword" fighters shoot out of their hanger bays and began to form up, as they ascended into the sky around the Reach. Not too long after the fighters exited the hangers, dozens upon dozens of landing craft followed suit and began to descend towards the temple below.

"Impressive, yes?" the trio heard a voice behind them say. "I have lived on the Reach for 5 to 6 years, and it still always amazes me just how big it is. Anyway the Reach's commander has contacted us and asked to meet with you."

"Thank you, Spartan." Riyo replied, "Amidala, Bail. You two go on a head. I need to have a word with the Spartan."

Amidala understood just why her friend wanted to be alone with the UNSC officer, as she took Organa's arm and began to make their way to meet with the Terran admiral. No sooner had the two former Republic senators exited the room, Riyo some how managed to wrap her arms around Spartan's neck and kiss his golden visor.

"You do know that some one may see us." the Spartan said with an amused tone.

"Yes, I know." the Pantoran female replied, "But I just thought that I could steal my soon to be husband away for a while." It was just a few weeks ago that the Spartan VI asked the Pantoran Senator to be his wife and Riyo was more than willing to spend the rest of her life with the human that had captured her affection. Daniel was her knight in shining armor and he had literally come to her rescue when the Temple was under attack. Now that they were alone, Riyo would now get her chance to be alone with him since his arrival.

"Well I guess that is understandable." Daniel replied, as proceeded to wrap his arms around her supple waist. "But I am afraid that this is one time that business must come before pleasure."

"Indeed." Riyo said with a slight pout, as she released her grip on her fiancee and and fixed her dress. "I guess I should meet with your admiral if he requested it. But before I go, there is one thing I want to know."

"Okay, what is it?" Daniel replied.

"Are you really willing to stop being a super solder just for me, once we are wed?"

"Well... yea!"

"But why?"

"Because... I found something else in life that I want to be committed to." and with that statement, Daniel left the room. Leaving his soon to be wife behind with a look of absolute happiness on her face,

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About an half an hour later, the three former senators, as well as Obi Wan, who was there on behalf of the Jedi council, were on board the Reach and were soon meeting with Admiral Morrison within the command and control center. A room that was currently alive with activity, as numerous personnel sat by their consoles and coordinated the evacuation of the Temple below.

"I want to thank everyone for meeting with me when I asked. Though I wish the circumstances were different." The admiral addressed the assembled group.

"Indeed." Master Kenobi replied, "But may I ask, just how was your vessel able to break through the blockade in orbit? I am very certain that those ships would have just allowed your vessel to slip by them so easily."

"Very True, if those cruisers were even active."

"Excuse me?" a very confused Kenobi said, "What do you mean by that?"

"Prior to our arrival into the system, our intelligence office had several of their frigates on station." Morrison began to explain, as he pressed a small button on a near by console and a holographic image of Coruscant appeared with highlighted icons that showed the Republic fleet in orbit, as well as 8 blue icons that showed the location of the CBMI flotilla. "When the vessel carrying Trinity team arrived in orbit, the Republic fleet's attention was focused on there ship for a few minutes. Long enough for a couple of the frigates to deploy about a dozen E.M.P mines around said vessels."

"What us a... E.M.P mine?" Riyo asked the Terran admiral.

"Electromagnetic Pulse mine, or EMP mine for short." Morrison explained, "We used them to, for a lack of a better term, 'fry out' their systems so that the Reach could enter the planet's atmosphere unchallenged."

"I am guessing that the use of these EMP weapons is also responsible for the complete communications blackout all over the planet?" asked the Alderan royal.

"I am afraid that was of my doing." a new voice joined in on the conversation. Suddenly the image of a human female with animal like ears and wearing paw like gloves, appeared in front of the holographic display. "My name is Mouse. I am a information gathering artificial intelligence, assigned to the Central Bureau of Military Intelligence."

"And for the last few months, she had been infiltrating numerous files and computer programs all over the planet." Admiral Morrison added, as he walked in front of the console containing the hologram. "She was the one who gave the the information concerning Order 66."

"Um... well then." Obi Wan began, still in complete awe by the A.I known as 'Mouse', "I guess the Jedi order owes you a big thanks for what you did."

"It was nothing, really." Mouse replied with a smile, "I was just doing what I was programed to do."

"We are still not out of the woods yet." the admiral stated, "Intelligence reported that there was a large force en route from Tallaan and should be in the system within eight hours."

"How long will be until before the evacuation is completed?" Riyo questioned the admiral.

"At our current rate, seven hours."

"That does not give us much time to escape." Amidala commented.

"Indeed." Morrison agreed, "Master Kenobi, I must request that you head back to the temple and ensure that there are no delays in the evacuation. Senators Amidala, Chuchi and Oragana, I strongly suggest that the three of you stay on board the Reach for your own safety. Some rooms have been provided with the three of you in mind, I will have some marines show you to them."

"Thank you, Admiral." Padme answered for her group, as she Bail and Riyo were lead away by a couple marines. While Kenobi made his way back to the Reach's hanger bay, to rejoin the evacuation effort on the ground.

But as the group went there separate ways and the went back to the tack of overseeing the current operation, none of them were aware that the entire evacuation was about to be thrown into serious jeopardy.

{ 4 Hours later }

"Admiral, sensors are picking up a sudden energy reading approximately thirty miles from our location." the Artificial Intelligence known as 'Six' said, as his image suddenly appeared on a near by console.

"Confirmed!" a young officer added from his post, as a holographic image of the city came up with an highlighted area in the corner of the map. "There is a massive build up of energy coming from an abandoned building complex north-east from here."

"Energy reading?" Morrison questioned, "A weapon of some kind?"

"The information I gathered from the Republic's files made no mention of any major military facility or weapon's platform in this section of the city." Mouse answered, as her image came into view an an adjacent holo-projector.

After taking a moment to digest the information he had gotten, Morrison sighed heavily before he replied, "Alert everyone on the ground that an attack could be imminent. Go to red alert-"

"Energy spike detected!" Six called out, "Enemy weapon firing in 5... 4... 3... 2..."

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Meanwhile on the temple grounds below, dozens upon dozens of Pelican drop ships and other landing craft covered the temple grounds as they waited to be loaded with evacuees. While dozens more were already in flight and were either headed up to the Reach with their passengers, or were headed back down to pick up another load.

From his location from one of the temple's balconies, Daniel had a full view of the UNSC's operation, as he looked through the scope of his SRS-99-5S sniper rifle. He, along with the rest of Trinity team had taken up defensive positions at strategic points around the landing area. Since he was the team's resident sniper, the Spartan IV had his rifle drawn and was currently scanning the area for would be intruders that may have attempted to cause any disruptions.

So far the only thing that the Spartan could see in his scope were a number of those "speeders" hovering in the distance, with their occupants literally hanging out side of them with camera like devices in their hands. Apparently the arrival of the Reach on Coruscant had drawn the interest of a number of media houses on the planet, then again the arrival of an Infinity-class vessel would be big news on any planet. At one point Daniel could see one "news camera" point directly in his direction and he actually was considering waving back at the vehicle as a joke.

But that thought was quickly pushed a side as something in the corner of his scope caught the Spartan's attention. It could not have lasted for more than a second, but Daniel thought he had seen a bright blue flash come from a large group of buildings in the distance. He was about to adjust his scope in an attempt to get a better view of what ever it was that had caused the flash, when a bright beam of energy suddenly came in with a roar and struck the Reach's mid section.

The 3.5 mile long vessel lurched to one side, as all of the visible lights on the vessel began to flicker, but yet when the light faded and everything became quiet once again, the Reach showed no visible signs of structural damage. But that sense of relief was short lived as dozens of transport vessels that had been in the just moments ago, began to literally fall out of the sky. Many of them with passengers on board.

Those on the ground fled as fast as they could in any any and all directions, as to avoid being crushed by the falling craft. Many of them not as fortunate as others, as a number of large fire balls began to erupt numerous crash sights. What had been a an orderly and efficient evacuation, was transformed into a s scene of absolute chaos and destruction.

But this just only the beginning of something much worse, as hundreds of Republic gunships and fighters seemingly came out of no where and began to swarm the Reach and the now crippled evacuation sight below.

Meanwhile a few miles away, a cloaked figure stood within the confines of the Chancellor's Suit. An evil grin forming on his face, as he saw his new Imperial army descend on the seemingly helpless warship and the Jedi temple.

The Jedi and their new Terran allies were not going to get away that easily, not if Darth Sideous could help it.