Summary/disclaimer: Time for another chapter of Shattered Glass. Enjoy the 1000-word chapter. I don't own Halo, Bungie, Bioware, and 343 do.
(UNSC Punic Class Supercarrier, Goliath, Armstrong Nebula, Vamshi System.)
Gadge watched the engineers work on Hellion, they looked like fireflies. The tiny sparks of light periodically told him that they were still fixing the ship up.
"Vice Admiral." Gadge heard as he turned back to the holotable. "I believe you wanted to talk tactics." Hacket questioned which caused Gadge to nod and hum.
"Sorry, just checking to make sure everyone is fine." Gadge stated before walking over to the table. "I'm not used to being a flag officer so early in my career." Gadge stated while brushing off his hands.
"You sound the part of one." Hacket said which caused Gadge to hum.
"How much do you know about Saren's forces?" Gadge questioned and turned to the side which caused Hacket to hum.
"The Geth or Saren himself?" Hacket questioned while Gadge tapped his fingers on the screen. "The Geth are a synthetic form of machines made by the Quarians. By the report I received from Captain Anderson? They seem to revere Saren as a prophet… Just like the report you gave me telling me about the Covenant." Hacket stated and was greeted by Gadge humming.
"Great an army of religious nutjobs… Just like the Covenant." Gadge stated which made him and looked. "Then is that why they seemed to charge us head on?" Gadge questioned which made him sigh and looked to the side.
"Because their robots." Hacket stated stated while he cracked his knuckles. "They don't lose anything except time and resources they can recover." Hacket put in which caused Gadge to nod.
"Saren is a formerly government sanctioned soldier who has an army of religious cyborgs…" Gadge stated to Hacket and folded his hands behind him. "And now an army of religious aliens topped off with a warship to match… Tell me, if Shepard hadn't become a Spectre? What exactly was your plan to stop a warlord like Saren?" Gadge questioned as he walked to the bridge window.
"You question quite a lot, Vice Admiral." Hacket put in which was greeted by a nod from Gadge.
"I like to have all my chips on the table before I make a move." Gadge said and rubbed at his temples and brushed his hair back. "Saren has an army, he knows this galaxy better then me and those under my command…. He's got us in a corner, Admiral Hacket." Gadge stated while placing his cap back on his head.
"Tell me something…" Hacket put in as Gadge rubbed at his chin. "How did you get the promotion to Vice Admiral? There has to be more reasons then lack of morale." Hacket questioned while Gadge nodded and looked back at him.
"Give me a minute to put things together." Gadge stated and crossed his arms. "I'm acting more uptight then I usually am." Gadge pointed out while he sat in the captain's chair.
Gadge hummed then nodded. He turned to Benson.
"Tell Vigilance to track down the marines." Gadge ordered before crossing his arms. "The base on Gagarin was the newest base the Geth created?" Gadge questioned as Hacket nodded.
"Back to brass tacks." Gadge put in and tented his fingers together. "I don't exactly do things by the book, sir. My first station was a light frigate called the Hades. My captaincy lasted 6 months before I was promoted to captain." Gadge said and leaned forward.
"I took out 4 Covenant destroyers by detonating a nuclear missile inside an asteroid belt." Gadge said, raising an eyebrow while looking around the deck. "It sent rocks rolling around like pinballs. We barely escaped, damaged most of the lower decks on the ship… Turned the Covenant ships into slag, though." Gadge said while rubbing his chin.
"Sounds like an interesting move." Hacket stated while Gadge hummed.
"I suspect they put me in charge of a supercarrier so I didn't take risks." Gadge stated and rested his arms on the chair arms. "I prefer winning over regular by the books tactics. The Covenant are steamrolling us back in UNSC space. We should be focusing about saving what we can, fighting the battles where we can hold the ground. We can focus on doing things by the book when humanity isn't being butchered." Gadge finished and cracked his back and hummed.
"That's a dangerous mentality to have for an officer." Hacket stated as Gadge shrugged.
"I didn't ask to be a Vice Admiral, sir." Gadge put in as he turned the chair around. "I'm just a soldier doing what he can do to protect who he can…" Gadge added before turning to Benson.
"Lieutenant? Send Hellion to Alliance Space so they can finish repairs before enemy reinforcements appear." Gadge ordered and cracked his fingers. "We're headed to tackle the other outpost. Tell Sierra 087 to report in 6 hours… Spin up Slipspace drives and set course." Gadge orders to his crew and got a nod.
"Your ships haven't refueled for a while, have they?" Hacket questioned and got a nod from Gadge.
Gadge hummed and cut the transmission before the Slipspace tunnels were generated.
Gadge could only ponder how Kelly was doing at the moment when they came out of Slipspace.
Perhaps they could find one of their refit stations. The engineers aboard them would understand how to make more fuel.
In a flash? Goliath and every other ship vanished; Vigilance disappeared into a tunnel as the Paris-Class Heavy Frigate traveled to pick up the Alliance Marines.
Gadge had no idea that the war would escalate now.
Author Notes
Phew. Another chapter done! I want to point out that next chapter will be longer… I will add in more content soon, I don't want to simply tack onto the story already. Next chapter will be in 2-10 weeks and will show Vanguard arriving at Gagarin, Kelly and Shepard fighting Geth… And Vigilance rescuing the marines and such. Until then, Lighting Wolf out!
P.S: Next chapter will be 3000 words or such. I will make another Mass Effect story soon.