/ New Alexandria - Reach - Epsilon Eridani \

/ 25-4-2558 Military Calendar \

/ 8:12 - Local Time \

"-have already repelled several raiding parties conducted by the Covenant to break out the pocket. There were several close calls but so far they've made minimal progress, not to mention with each ship lost they can't replace or repair them."

Lord Hood nodded at the holographic image Admiral Cole. "And our losses?" He questioned.

"Not as bad as I first predicted, thankfully most of our ship losses were amongst those not yet upgraded with the A4 plating. Those that have, have stood up remarkably well against the Covenant's bombardment." The Admiral recited. "I've placed Drescher in charge of closing the pocket, the fleets under her command would be best suited to the slower attrition battle, in the meantime I've set up my battlegroups in positions to guard the 'Stalingrad Line' and I've sent a taskforce to reinforce both Azuro and Trappist." He continued.

"Good, Admiral Keng reported signs of sporadic fighting still going on inside the city on Meridian although they haven't received any comms from them, he speculates that their ability to project any signals into orbit is still down. As suchI've already sent my own taskforce from here, it carries several large Army and Marine brigades to reinforce the Colonial defenses as well as groups of Phoenix refits to assess and repair the defences and set up several new FOBs in and around the city, they should arrive at the same time." Lord Hood divulged.

"I've also sent preliminary raiding parties into the edge of Covenant controlled space, Vice Admiral Hackett and Rear Admiral Taylor report that they've destroyed several minor staging grounds and supply points with minimal resistance. They speculate that either the Prophets weren't expecting us to counter-attack so soon or that they're running out of ships. Personally the former sounds more likely than the latter." Cole informed.

Lord Hood scratched his chin, "It does sound plausible, if there is minimal risk to both yourself and the rest of the line you have my permission to be more aggressive in your raiding. Most of what you're heading into his former friendly space, use that to your advantage." He ordered

"Very well, I shall be needing reinforcements soon then, I sent a portion of my vessels with Drescher to give her a larger chance at success and am already spread thin." The Admiral requested.

"I'll see what we can spare, however they might be slow to arrive." Lord Hood began, "Director Harper has recently informed me of recent engagements between the Turian Hierarchy and a Covenant raiding fleet, suffice to say the outcome did not favour the Turians despite their victory."

Admiral Cole's hologram frowned as he processed the news. "That does not bode well, do we know where their central government is located yet?"

Lord Hood lent forward and access the holographic keyboard, sending the coordinates to the other Admiral, "It was in the Serpent Nebula as we originally stated, however Captain Niko trailed the belugard Turian fleet back to the Citadel and got a concrete location to track. He has also mentioned the nebula may actually be artificial in nature as it messed with their sensors, attempting a Slipspace jump may prove difficult for a large fleet without coordination." He stated.

Preston's eyes looked over something off screen before he turned back, "Do the Covenant know?" He questioned next.

The elder man lent back into his chair and shrugged no-commitantly, "Unknown, however the chance is there. It's standard 'Cole Protocol' procedure to sweep the ship of bugs before jumping back to friendly territory, I see no reason for the Turians to possess something similar." He theorized.

The Admiral frowned again, "Then they may be preparing a fleet to attack as we speak." He sighed heavily and rubbed his eyes. "It may explain why we've had such ease going forward."

"Those were my thoughts as well, they could be preparing for an all out assault on Citadel space…"

"And when they capitulate we'll be trapped between two giants we'll have no hope against." The Admiral finished grimly, worse case scenarios forming in both Admiral's heads. "Can we warn them?"

Hood huffed, "And say what? They don't know us, how do we expect them to believe us?" He pointed out.

Cole's holographic eyes zeroed in on his superior. "You're planning on interfering?" He accused.

"The Covenant aren't exactly giving me much choice," Lord Hood rebuked, he sent another file to Cole, "I'm preparing a battlegroup, it won't interfere unless the Citadel itself is threatened."

Cole looked offscreen again, "With who in command?" He questioned.

"Lasky is the only free officer of senior enough rank." Hood sighed.

Cole raised an eyebrow, "That's a tall ask for a newly promoted Admiral, and one so young." He doubted.

"If you have anyone better please feel free to recommend them, if you haven't noticed we're rather tight on manpower at the moment Admiral." The High Admiral replied tersely.

The Admiral's jaw tightened but he made no further comment.

"If it makes you feel any better, the Solace In Silence's AI managed to plant a bug inside the Citadel. Once he made sure that it wasn't discovered, he dug himself deep into the station's systems, I was planning on using it to send out some feelers with the Turians. Not immediately of course, once they've had a chance to come against a real Covenant battlegroup, temporarily it'll work on basic surveillance and intel gathering." Hood continued.

Cole looked mildly surprised. "Ambitious." He commented wryly.

Hood pursed his lips, "Perhaps, we've already secured the assistance of the Rachni through Harper and Halsey. These Turians have fought the Covenant and taken significant casualties doing so, I'm hoping I won't have to do anything to get them to our side other than leak our own struggles with the bastards." He speculated.

"And a hypothetical Human battlegroup saving a hypothetical attack on the Citadel would only push them in our favour." Cole concluded.

"Indeed." Hood murmured, absentmindedly reaching for a datapad as the conversation petered off.

The lower Admiral hummed and folded his arms behind his back, eyes closed in contemplation, "Project: Unassailable?" He questioned after a moment or two.

"I ordered Admiral Whitecomb to push forward the production of the newer vessels shortly after we originally discovered the Citadel Council, six Vindicators will be ready in three more months and five months for the Olympus Mons class. However I've requested a rush order on one of each." Hood stated. "The Vindicator is finished in a week and will be given to Laskey, make a statement of our strength if we meet the Council at the end of a gun."

"Show our stick is bigger than theirs, the Olympus Mons?" Cole requested.

"Yours if you'll have it, once Drescher is finished the pocket's subjugation I want you to strike deep back at the Covenant."

"The Covenant will think we'll play passive, they won't expect such a force to counter-attack. They'll be preparing to defend against nothing more than raiding parties." Cole realized.

"And you'll punish them for it." Hood finished. "Even better if we gain the Turians as allies, between us we could create a powerful bloc with the Rachni as well."

Cole blinked in surprise, "Two militaristic races and a hivemind with virtually limitless manpower, we could rival the Citadel if it all works out."

"Not quite, not yet anyway." Hood prompted.

Cole remained silent as he thought, "You're planning on creating another alliance, one to contend with the Citadel Council and the Covenant on an equal scale." He probed. "That's dangerous, both inside and out."

"You let me handle that, you just focus on making sure we live that long to make it happen." Hood reminded.

Admiral Cole stood straighter if that were at all possible, nodding resolutely, "That I can do." And with that he disappeared. Lord Hood sighed as he became once more alone in his office, chucking his datapad onto his desk it automatically activated the holoprojectors displaying the images of a Krogan and Quarian. Several paragraphs of information appearing beside the diagrams.

Anything was better than genocide, and there were two races intimatly familiar with that fact.

/ Drem - Meridian - Azuro \

/ 25-4-2558 Military Calendar \

/ 12:34 Local Time \

"This is Avenger-Actual to Avenger teams, Covenant convoy sighted moving its way up the avenue. Multiple heavy and light victors including upwards of three hundred foot mobiles, all teams copy and in position?"

"This is Avenger-1, ready and waiting."

"Avenger-2, standing by."

"Avenger-3, in position."

"Avenger-4, ready to rain hell."

Zaeed raised a hand to his ear, "This is Avenger-5, we're locked and loaded." He replied, turning the safety off and priming the MAC rails in his BR. Jessie sat out this confrontation due to the longer ranges making her less effective.

Currently he and his squad sat on the third floor of an office building, the two troopers, Perry and Mason, had been formally placed under his command by Pierce. The man himself had formed 'Avenger' platoon from the scraps that had come together in the days that had followed the destruction of Drem, they totaled fifty-seven combatants and seventy-eight with the wounded included.

Split into six, the large group set about gathering supplies and trying to limit the reach of Covenant forces in the area alone. The EMP after the Covenant glassing was still affecting most parts of the city, destroyed or not, including the long range communications, so contacting any other elements not within five-hundred metres was impossible. This also meant that getting any kind of signal up into orbit to the defending fleet could never happen, even if the comms had still been active, the only link between the planet and the fleet was in the Command centre itself. And since they couldn't communicate with whatever was left of command, they couldn't find out the status of the fleet, either to let them know they still stood or if reinforcements were on their way.

To sum up, it was just one giant mess.

Scouts had been sent out not long after they'd made it to the camp a few days ago, they'd picked out targets and attacked patrols as they made their way through the city looking for larger groups when they'd stumbled across this lot. The convoy they were after, appeared to be trying to set up a small FOB inside the city, likely to make it a position to regroup their own troops after the fall of the city.

They'd been gathering their own soldiers in an attempt to push further inside the city and the negligible defenses left behind. Naturally, a large convoy like that was stretched out and was a prime target for an ambush.

So here they were, Zaeed surveyed his squad in the now disused meeting room. Fletcher had switched to her weapons similar to him, changing her SMG for the single shot DMR. Preissner sat far at the back, quietly adjusting his scope. Bailey was beside him, AR ready but a green metal tube at his feet, a recently acquired M57 Pilum Rocket launcher. To his other side sat Mason and Perry, Mason carrying his previous DMR and Perry his AR but with a M123 Rotary Grenade Launcher on his back. They were ready as ever, with some decent sleep. Food and freshly replenished ammunition, they were combat ready as they were ever going to be.

Just in time too, "Standby, lead elements of the convoy coming into view round the corner." The major announced over the comm.

"Look alive people!" Zaeed barked, shifting so he faced the window, ready to lean out. Both Perry and Bailey prepped their secondaries for the first volly.

"Standby..." Zaeed could now hear the slow marching for the foot soldiers with the occasional grunting and growling, the gentle hum of their transports and vehicles echoed just beneath it.

"...Standby." He took a deep breath, carefully putting his finger on the trigger. He placed a hand on Bailey's shoulder next to him when he started shifting uncomfortably.

"Avenger-2...detonate explosives!" The order came through, and not a moment later a rumbling boom shook the room. The plastic explosives at the base of an advertisement tower detonated, blowing out one of the supporting legs and causing it to collapse in the road. Directly in the path of the convoy.

Zaeed slapped Bailey's shoulder, "ALRIGHT, LET THEM HAVE IT!" He yelled, jumping up, slamming his fist on the button to open the shutters.

With a metallic whirl, the metal shutters covering the window opened allowing the sun to glare in. There was a vague sound of alarm from the Covenant arrayed below them, it was immediately smothered by the blare of a dozen rockets and grenade launchers unleashing themselves below.

The front of the convoy was destroyed in a maelstrom of fire, the unsuspecting Covenant forces standing no chance under the surprise assault, vehicles and infantry alike.

The central location where Zaeed and his command were located fared better, if only slightly. There were less men in the buildings surrounding the road but that didn't mean they gave any less than their best. The Covenant below them was cut down in droves, so sure in the victory over the city that they never expected to meet heavy resistance, naturally this played into their hands perfectly.

Zaeed fired his rifle errantly but precisely, not picking his targets but making sure each one went down permanently before he moved on.

Without warning, his shields glared angrily at him as plasma fire began getting returned in earnest. With the surprise gone, the Covenant began turning their numbers advantage to its fullest and plasma flew through the windows and hit the ceiling above them.

He ducked back down and out the corner of his eye saw Bailey do the same, the younger man dropping the rocket tube at his feet and reloading his assault rifle. Both lent out at the same time to continue firing, Zaeed however was almost immediately forced back into cover when a radioactive shell whizzed past his head.

He yanked a precious grenade from his chest rig and leapt up quick enough to prime it and throw it down towards a congregation of Jackals. The explosion was muted against the rest of the battle but he still registered the detonation, and he reappeared to rain fire on an Elite Sergeant.

"Locusts! Multiple Locusts moving up the avenue!" Someone screamed over the radio, Zaeed barely had the time to register the comment before the wall before him shattered from a compressed stream of plasma.

Thrown back violently, his shields shattered with barely a splutter of blue as he hit the wall behind him. It didn't take him long however to shift to his knees, with a quick survey only Bailey seemed hurt and he dashed forward to grab at the prone form, even as more and more plasma was directed inside the room.

Thankfully the other occupants needed no instruction, Fletcher appeared next to him and grabbed Bailey's other arm and together they pulled the Private from the room while the rest covered the opening behind them.

They emerged in the hall where they propped him against the wall, Zaeed turned to the medic, "How is he?" He questioned.

Fletcher had taken out a small medical datapad which connected with Bailey's suit, making sure the armour was doing its job. "He's fine, suffered a blow to the head which knocked him out, only a minor concussion and he'll have one hell of a headache." She read off.

Zaeed nodded, "Get him on his feet asap." He spoke before changing channels, "Avenger-Actual this is Avenger-5, our cover was just obliterated by those locusts, we have one casualty - minor - how do you want us to proceed?" He recited into the comm, the rest of his squad filed out the room in the meantime.

There was a short moment before the response came, "Copy-All Avenger-5, Avenger-2 has been hit hard by the Covenant forces down at the roadblock, pull out your position and reinforce thiers." The reply was spoken over the scattered sound of battle.

"Avenger-5 Copies, moving out." Zaeed replied, he turned back to the downed Bailey who was dazily looking around. "Come-on, on your feet. We need to reinforce the roadblock." He encouraged the Private to his feet underneath the watchful eyes of Fletcher. He tapped the boy on the side of his helmet, "How you feeling?"

Bailey shook his head a few times, "A little woozy but I can fight." he answered after a second.

Fletcher nodded, "Good, that should pass but I've directed your suit to give you adrenaline supplements at regular intervals it should clear it up in the short term." She rattled off as she folded away her pad, she turned to Zaeed. "I'll stick by him for now as well."

Zaeed nodded back and faced the rest of the squad, "We're moving back to reinforce Avenger-2, I'm guessing that rather than retreating the Covenant are pushing for an outbreak at the front. We're needed to make sure they don't, now that our element of surprise is gone." He explained, shooting one last look at Bailey to make sure of his capability, "Let's move." He ordered before striding off, his footsteps echoed behind him from the others.

They thundered down through the building, the sounds of battle outside echoed louder and quieter as stairwells and hallways blurred by. A few minutes later they came across the back entrance of the office building, without stopping, Zaeed lowered his shoulder and barged down the metal door. It ended up saving his life.

A group of Covenant had edged their way out the battle, evidently sent their way to root them out had they not already moved out as they had. One must have heard their footsteps, because a charged bolt of plasma burst through his shields but only succeeded at skimming off his armour due to his odd angle.

It was a credit to their combined training that the offending Jackal was dropped like a sack of potatoes, the other aliens behind reacted slower and two additional ones were killed while Zaeed dropped and rolled to avoid the return fire.

However out of cover, no shields and momentum against him he had only one direction to go, and the Elite he barreled into certainly disagreed with him. They briefly grappled together, the Elite managed to carve a neat line in his shoulder pad before Zaeed was able to free his arm enough to jab his knife through the roof of the aliens mouth.

Meanwhile, the rest of the squad had retreated back to the relative safety of the office building and had covered his scrap with lines of fire into the rest of the Covenant squad, eventually finishing them off when they failed to provide a good enough response.

Zaeed shoved off the limp Elite off himself and stood, retrieving his BR from the ground as he once more keyed the comms for Pierce. "Avenger-Actual this is Avenger-5."

The reply took a moment but eventually the response came. "Go Avenger-5."

"Avenger-Actual be advised, Covenant are sending parties to outflank current ambushing positions. We just ran into one ourselves, other Avenger detachments may be at risk." Zaeed explained on his radio. Making sure the rest of his squad was once again ready, they set off a second time.

"Understood Avenger-5, other Avenger detachments will be informed, continue to your objective." Pierce shut off them comm.

They kept to the back streets, avoiding the main avenue and the ensuing battle, however it was impossible to avoid the roaming patrols this time. Thrice more they clashed with the Covenant, each time causing more casualties as the group grew larger, each ultimately slowing down their progress to Avenger-2.

By the time they arrived it was just in time for them to witness a Locust fire a stream through the improvised barricade, blowing it apart and scattered the beleaguered defenders of Avenger-2. Zaeed didn't waste any more time and sprung into action, "Bailey, Perry, focus on that Locust! Fletcher, give Avenger-2 any assistance they may need, Preissner find a perch, the rest of us plug that hole!" He barked in quick succession.

His squad sprung into action without another word, he pushed forward towards the breach firing at and killing a Jackal that had appeared through the breach with a burst from his BR. He dropped to his knees and slid the rest of the way, plasma hissing overhead as the Covenant began noticing the reinforcements.

"Avenger-Actual, this is Avenger-5, the roadblock has been breached and Avenger-2 has been scattered, we're giving our assistance but there's a Locust preying on us and a shit-ton of infantry. We'll hold but not sure for how long!" Zaeed expounded into the radio.

The response came a lot quicker this time. "Understood Avenger-5, we'll try and free up another element for your assistance but the rest of the convoy isn't going down quietly."

"Hard copy, Avenger-Actual." He shut off the comm and made sure his BR was fully loaded.

He lent out a moment later and began targeting the foremost aliens, the standard three shot bursts escaped his gun, conserving ammunition was best in this situation outnumbered as they were. Pressing the trigger twice, kill, move on. It was a simple maneuver but quite effective, the older models took several more bursts to break an Elite's shield but the newly improved MAC technology bridged that gap easily.

Squeeze twice, kill, move on. More fire was joining his now, the cyan streaks impacting the mass of Covenant. By now however the word had gotten through of the breach, the Covenant was swinging their numbers to their advantage. More weapons were being at him rather than away, evidence of this came as his cover slowly eroded under the heat of plasma pelting it.

Once more his shields died, this time he was unable to move back into cover before three purple needles shattered onto his armour and a blue blob impacted his chest, throwing him on his back. Only slightly winded, he managed to roll back into cover as more plasma splashed where he'd been lying.

He patted the still hot area to make sure it hadn't burnt it's way through, it hadn't otherwise he'd have probably felt a whole lot more than a small singe, and all that was left was a circular groove in his armour plate one that he'd either need filling in or replacing entirely.

He grabbed his BR again, looking up into the smoke trail left from Bailey as a rocket impacted the Locusts weakened shields, breaching through and detonating against the vehicles chassis and blowing a leg clean off.

There was a small cheer as the defenders witnessed their minor victory and it only spurred them on further, smaller explosions began appearing amongst the alien formation, Perry now choosing to use his rotary grenade launcher on the infantry with the Locust having been dealt with.

The firefight reached a plateau, the entrenched defenders wouldn't easily be detached from their positions but were ultimately heavily suppressed by the Covenant numbers. That was however until a yell pierced the din of battle, "CONTACT - REAR!" Someone yelled, immediately half the defenders swiveled and began engaging the Covenant that had appeared behind them.

Zaeed made himself as small as possible as switch comm channels again, "Avenger-Actual, Avenger-Actual, this is Avenger-5!" He spoke hurriedly, taking the brief opportunity to take a few bursts at a brute standing in the open.

"Calm down Avenger-5, what's happening?"

"We've been outflanked at the roadblock, we're surrounded and are in need of immediate assistance, Avenger-2 has suffered casualties and-HUNTERS MOVE!" He yelled as he spotted the two large beings lumber around a building, interrupting his dialog with Pierce.

The Hunters attracted most of the fire from the defenders but their armour was strong and they simply waded through, MAC tech or not. "BAILEY, PERRY, GET SOME FIRE ON THE PAIR!" He ordered, switching his fire from the threat to the Covenant infantry using the Hunters to push forward.

It was fair to say that the situation quickly disintegrated from there, with the Hunters absorbing so much fire the other Covenant foot-soldiers began pushing through the gap that had appeared as the defender's attention shifted.

Zaeed dived to the side to avoid several streams of plasma, scrambling to his knees he dashed forward and threw himself in to cover behind a destroyed bench, it wasn't much but it'd do for now. "Bailey, Perry, status!?" He barked, reloading and firing at a group of Grunts.

"Boss, we're suppressed, can't get a good shot on the Hunters." It was Perry who answered.

He scanned the ensuing battle and spotted the pair stuck behind a slab of concrete, being suppressed by multiple alien infantry. In the background, one of the Hunters swatted a poor trooper stuck outside of cover.

"Preissner, need support bearing - 210 - group of infantry!" He directed.

There was a soft grunt over the line, "Roger, moving position, 1 minute." The response came.

"Prerry, get ready to suppress Hunter-1, Bailey I want a rocket at it's feet not a moment later. I have your six, 40 seconds out for covering fire." He laid out, turning out of cover to take some early shots. It mildly succeeded in taking some attention off of the two, but still it was now aimed at him and he was forced back into cover.

He counted down the remaining seconds and at one minute on the dot, a tracer from Preissner shot overhead straight through the throat of a brute, next followed a Elite, every two seconds a new alien dropped and it was exactly what they needed.

"Now!" He yelled into the comms, also standing up and targeting random Covenant out in the open.

Perry at the same time leaned out and aimed at the lead Hunter, with a soft whirl, the launcher began spitting grenades at the colony of worms. The first grenade impact on the shoulder, the next hit the chest, by that point the armoured alien had turned and moved its shield in front of its body in time for the next two grenades.

Perry must have said something because Bailey stood next and aimed his launcher, it took a moment but with what must have been nearly his last rockets, he fired at the Hunter's feet twice. The first rocket it right on target on the concrete road, causing the Hunter to stagger backwards, straight into the second rocket and with a warbled groan the Hunter slumped to the ground.

The second Hunter didn't take kindly to the death of it's bonded, letting out an enraged roar that even the Covenant stepped away from, it rounded on the rubble Perry and Bailey crouched behind, and its arm cannon glowed ominously as it primed to fire.

The large ball of plasma shot before he could yell a warning and the concrete shattered under the powerful explosion, tossing both members of his squad across the avenue. On his HUD, Perry's vitals immediately flatlined as his name went red.

Originally encased in smoke, Bailey's body hit the floor hard, currently alive but even from his position he could see the situation was serious. "Medic! Medic on Bailey!" He yelled into the short comms, "Preissner, I need covering fire towards the kid's position!" He requested, poking his head out and immediately retracting it.

"On it."

"Moving!"

Fletcher and Preissner both replied at the same time, trusting in the sniper, Zaeed didn't wait a moment longer and made a dash for Bailey's prone form. Plasma splashed at his feet and his shields glared at the nearby glances but he got to Bailey, Fletcher appeared also at the same time, dropping to her knees next to the boy.

It was bad, he was missing an arm and a leg and his armour was a blackened and melted mess, but it likely saved his life by cauterizing his wounds. "Avenger-Actual, situation deteriorating, what's the chances of reinforcements?" He asked Pierce, "How bad?" He asked Fletcher, rather uselessly he must admit. Keeping an eye on the chaos around him, he had his back to the medic.

"Bad, even without looking at giving him a scan his chances of survival are limited. His armour systems took a massive hit from that Hunter, they haven't activated to inject medigel and biofoam." She replied, tapping hastily at her tablet, she dropped to retrieve a red can from her pack which she used to spray medigel onto the stumps of his mangled limbs. "I can't do much in the field, he needs a hospital." She stressed, now wrapping various burns in patches and bandages.

"We don't have one." He hissed, firing at several Brutes recklessly charging forward. It was safe to say, the defensive line had evaporated. He was down two men now, and he didn't even know the situation with Avenger-2, more targets popping up faster than they could be gunned down. His and Fletcher's position out in the open was incredibly risky now, it was only due to Preissner's overwatch they'd managed to avoid attention thus far. "I haven't gotten a response from Pierce, I have no idea what's happening." He grunted in frustration.

Fletcher sighed heavily, "We need to move him." She said.

Zaeed pursed his lips and nodded, "Mason, get down here! Preissner, get ready to move!" He ordered into the radio.

He couldn't hear the troopers approach over the gunfire, but Mason readily appeared next to their trio, panting slightly and a few new scuff marks on his armour. "I saw the flatline, Perry?" He asked, quietly. Zaeed just shook his head, and the trooper sighed to himself.

"It was quick, don't worry. But Bailey here isn't out of the clear just yet, we need to move him into cover." The Marine explained.

Mason nodded, "Ready when you are." He agreed

Zaeed turned to Fletcher, "Ready? We'll have to move fast."

The medic put away her pad, "Let's go." She grabbed Bailey underneath the armpits while Zaeed grabbed his remaining leg. With a small grunt of exertion, the two set off towards a building off to the side in a quick jog, balancing the weight between them as Mason covered their retreat. His shields broke in the journey but he hardly noticed their absence.

The door thankfully opened and shut automatically for them, and the noise of the battle was mercifully cut off into a quiet rumble. Zaeed sighed, "Preissner, rendezvous with us on the double." He spoke tiredly into the comm.

"Moving, 2 minutes." He replied swiftly.

"In here," Fletcher murmured, directing them into a room and together they placed Bailey on a table.

"I'll watch the door," Mason offered before leaving the room behind them.

The marine didn't answer, instead getting distracted by a pain in his side. Feeling around, he hissed in pain as his hand brushed across a crystal needle sticking out his side, having just snuck in between the gaps in his armour.

"Fletcher," He asked, and gestured to the encroachment when she looked up.

"Come here," She beckoned with a hand and Zaeed gratefully sat on a nearby chair.

As the medic crouched down to inspect the wound, Zaeed removed his helmet and detached the radio piece to place in his ear should the need arise. "It bad?" He queried, grabbing his canteen to take a swig of warm water.

"No, it didn't penetrate deep." She replied, feeling around the area. "This will hurt." Was all the warning she gave before yanking out the offending crystal and filling the wound with biofoam. The man hissed as the wound was sealed but made no comment

The wound was treated and bandaged when Preissner appeared, appearing around the door with barely a sound. "Situation isn't good." Was all he said before plopping himself ungracefully on the floor.

"Didn't expect anything else, I still haven't received anything from Pierce. Avenger-2 was getting mauled even before we arrived, and the other Elements could be better or worse. I don't know." Zaeed huffed. "For all I know, we could be the last, and I'm currently running out of ideas."

The room remained silent, "So you're giving up?" Preissner questioned incredulously, laying his sniper over his lap to inspect the scope.

"No, I'm just saying I don't know how to proceed from here." The marine amended.

"Sounds like you're giving up." Fletcher agreed smugly, tending to Bailey again.

Zaeed snorted, "Alright, how would you proceed?" He proposed, waving his hand uselessly around the room.

"Probably go to ground, disappear." Preissner suggested, patting his weapon.

"Impossible with Bailey's condition." The Gunnery Sergeant dismissed and the medic nodded in agreement and the sniper simply shrugged.

The room lapsed into silence as they were each swallowed by their own processes, the only thing filling the void was the constant sound of battle just outside their building. From the sounds, it seemed like it was winding down somewhat.

Zaeed shifted slightly, sitting straight, Or was it? "What?" Fletcher asked, catching the movement but he held up a hand asking for quiet.

Listening carefully the battle was petering off, but getting louder. The constant pulsing of plasma weaponry was slowly being offset by something far louder, and heavier. Every so often there was an echoing boom sending vibrations all the way inside their building, and there was only one thing that could create a sound like that. Reinforcements.

"Preissner with me, Fletcher stay!" He barked, reenergized, slamming his helmet back on his head and grabbing his BR.

Preissner scrambled up, likely hearing the same tones as he did, and fell in behind him. Mason was already by the door, ready and waiting. With only a nod, the trooper allowed the door to swing open, revealing the condition outside.

A trio of Panthers were rolling down the street, pounding the Covenant with their 90mm magnetically accelerated shells. A group of Gauss-Hogs roamed behind, clearing up any stragglers the Panthers may have missed. The site was glorious, and there, riding on one of the Hogs was Pierce, swearing up a storm.

Reinforcements were here, and they were safe.

/ Vindication - Distant Reach Orbit - Epsilon Eridani \

/ 30-4-2558 Military Calendar \

/ 14:21 - Ship Time \

The newly promoted Rear Admiral Laskey meandered quietly around the catwalk, situated around the edges of the Vindications hanger, just watching the controlled chaos that encompassed the sizable expanse. 2km long and 1km high, it was large enough to fit most of the HDE's smaller combat vessels inside but was instead filled to the brim with fighters, Pelicans and logistical Albatross' delivering the last of the urgent supplies. Being the one of the twin hangers on the Vindication meant it would be full and busy for the entirety of deployment, the rest of the hull space inside being used for crew quarters, storage and maintenance halls and gun emplacements on the outside of the hull. More so since the use of fighter deployment was moved away from the larger Capital ships in the wake of Operation: PHOENIX and UNASSAILABLE.

It was undoubtedly a surprise when he'd been summoned to Lord Hood's office on Reach, even more so when after he was promoted merely two months ago, was given a landing pad to depart from an hour later for transport to his new ship and command.

Of all the ships he was expecting, the first of the Vindication-Class was not one of them and he had felt truly honoured that Lord Hood had trusted him with such a vessel. The Battlegroup being assembled around the ship as he walked, only sailed with the High Admirals supreme orders. He had no idea what it was for, only that it was needed in the worst case scenario concerning the Citadel Races recently discovered.

As far as Lasky was concerned, that was all he needed to know.

When he passed the halfway mark in the hanger, a pair of technicians stepping aside to let him pass, one of the many holoprojectors lit up with an orange avatar. Roland, the ships AI, was a 'friend' of his; he'd go so far as to say.

Roland had served on his previous vessel as well, and he'd grown to like AI's dry sense of humor and sarcasm and had requested the AI be transferred along with him. To his surprise, Lord Hood had accepted, stating that the Vindication had yet to receive it's AI and that Roland would suffice.

"What is it Roland?" He questioned, coming to a stop.

"Priority message from Lord Hood, Admiral. We're to depart as soon as the last transport is off." Roland relayed grimmly.

Lasky blinked in surprise, "Now? And where? The Battlegroup isn't fully formed yet." He wondered, already moving towards a tram station, Roland's avatar trailing him on the many holoprojectors.

"We're being lent a portion of Reach's defence fleet for the duration of the mission. As to where the Citadel." He revealed, tension animated on his face to show his own concern.

Lasky paused before continuing his progress, "Get me a direct route to the bridge, and I need Commander Palmer there with me. What's the situation or are we going in blind?"

Roland pulled a face before answering…

/ Sparatus' Office - Citadel - Serpent Nebula \

/ 29-12-2156 - Galactic Standard \

/ 24:57 - Citadel Time \

Councilor Sparatus lent back in his chair, enjoying a small glass of Turian Brandy with the quiet of his office as he watched with a tired eye as the clock slowly ticked over to the new day.

The last week had been chaotic for both him and the rest of the Turian Hierarchy, throwing an entire nation into total war footing on short notice was a tall ask even for one as militaristic as theirs, the Asari and Salarians had been particularly abrasive recently especially and it took alot of his limited political clout to keep them off his back while they worked. They wanted to stay out of it, so they would without complaints.

The Primarch had secured the support of the Vol Protectorate, who'd been more than enthusiastic to assist in the funding of the coming war, even going so far as to offer their limited navy and military to aid them. Although the offer was moot at best, the Vol didn't have a large military afterall, it was still greatly appreciated and he was sure many a Turian's respect for the Volus had risen greatly after the news was shared.

Afterwards, he and Ambassador Korlack attended a meeting with the Elcor about their titanium. He would freely admit buying the Turians bought the resource bulk at cheaper than standard market price in the past, but now he'd offered to buy it at even greater amount to build up a stockpile as the Turian ship building ranked up several levels.

Not only would this prevent a deficit further down the line, with Korlack's assistance they secured a steady supply of the stuff for however long the war lasted. Naturally the venture would be expensive, but with the Volus' help most of the costs would be mitigated through other trade and a decrease in loan interest. All parties at the meeting went away happy.

The newly promoted Admiral had too been busy, preparing decommission fleets for reawakening, compiling the footage from the battles at Linkra and sending it to the rest of the Turian's Admirals and Generals with his own observations of enemy weakness and strengths. He would freely admit to being impressed by the Turian, he had stepped up to his post with a sense of duty few Turians could match.

Apart from the looming war, the only downside was when a ship had been moored for repairs, they'd detached what must only be a prope of sorts. Naturally they'd immediately destroyed it but it'd been active for days, the invaders likely already knew the location of the Citadel and he'd secretly sent for reinforcements to be sent without the Asari or Salarians knowing, they'd only believe he was fear mongering.

Sparatus placed down his glass when his terminal began incessantly beeping at him, thinking it was another message he muted the beeping and turned on the terminal to get back to work. Or would have if in large red words - RADIATION DETECTED - hadn't appeared on his screen.

He blinked twice, that couldn't be right? The relay the invaders came through was half a galaxy away, surely they couldn't travel that quickly?!

Suddenly alert and with a health dose of apprehensiveness, he swiped off the notice and brought up a visual feed outside of the Citadel, just in time as well to witness over a hundred purple portals appear against the backdrop of the nebula, some of them large enough to dwarf a Dreadnaught.

In real time he watched the portals deposit purple and silver bulbous vessels into the space before the Citadel, only a handful were smaller than 1km long, and the largest was over a chilling 5km long and there were five of them.

Sparatus' hand slammed on the communications tab without a second thought as his military mind took over, "GET ME A LINE TO CITADEL COMMAND!" He barked.

(End)

Morning or evening folks, depending on where you're from. I know I said last time that this chapter would show the meeting between the Citadel and the Humans but the segment with Zaeed went on longer than I thought so this is where we're finishing off today. Other the other hand it's now guaranteed to happen next chapter to you'll have to wait patiently for that. :)

The only other things is the design look for the Vindication-Class. Originally they were said to have a neck, that's changing because it relates to the Covenant design weakness of if you sever the neck you'll destroy the ship as seen in Halo Wars 2, not that it'll happen like that but you get the idea. So it was rather silly for the Humans to know this weakness but still design their ships that way so the design is changing. To see the new one, look up the Vindication-Class light battleship on Halopedia and scroll down to the gallery where the early designs are located, you're looking for the second picture displayed and then number 5 on the left side. A bit of a chore but just so you have visual representation.

-Red