"Covenant?" General Windu said, putting down the glowing metallic clipboard.
Jorge then took a deep breath, "Yes, a multi-species military that's sole job against us is to go on genocidal crusades against us... and it looks as if some have survived the crash."
"Genocidal crusades? What did your people do?" Kenobi asked with a curious eye-brow-raise.
"I don't know. As far as I know, they attacked without reason. They hate us, and that's all we know. They should've told us before killing billions."
His eyes went wide, "Billions?!"
"Unfortunately…"
Jerome then stepped in seeing Jorge's awkward state, "we need to take care of this now and fast, quicker those Zealots stay around the faster they'll cause more damage."
Windu nodded, "I agreed… Kenobi, go with the Spartans. From the looks of things, they are gonna need all the help they can get."
Holding up his arm, Douglas intruded, "We can take care of—"
"His assistance would be helpful," Alice interrupted, then pushing Douglas out of the way slightly.
"It will be useful to get a gauge on the ability of the Jedi," Alice said over the squad's private comms, being inaudible to the rest of the room.
Douglas then rolled his head and eyes under his helmet, still not wanting Kenobi onboard.
"Thank you General," said Jerome, "but I think we are going to need some weapons… ours are well, unusable."
Obi-wan nodded before walking out of the bridge, "Right then, follow me."
As they went out and into the metallic hallway, Jorge again looked at the motion-tracker in his helmet. Spartans are never scared, but now that he knew yellow was the registered IFF, it was a bit of a relief.
It was as if they were going back the way they came, through each arcade. As before, clones that the Spartans passed gazed in awe. Never had they, or anyone in the Republic, seen such a thing before, and possibly never will again.
Instead of going straight down the path they originally did, Kenobi took a left. As such, the Spartans followed from behind. Their footsteps of metal against metal echoed along the floor, almost like it was announcing to everyone who was near.
Jorge glanced around, taking in the scenery of the ship. The hallways were so strange, and had nothing of recognition that he could find. Then an odd gut feeling made him glance behind the group, and revealed an interesting sight.
Three officers and two white-armored soldiers stared right at the Spartans. Jorge actually almost chuckled a little at first as he thought about it.
In the UNSC, being stared at by the common soldier for a moment was normal, but to experience it first hand from another military?
It was almost like they were animals at a zoo.
Nevertheless, it took all of another two full minutes of walking to reach the ship's armory. From there, Jerome looked to Jorge, "What type of weapons do they have?"
Jorge turned to Jerome, "Plasma based, but more conventional than the Covenant."
Nodding, Jerome straightened out again.
Kenobi pressed a few buttons on the door in front. The lock seemingly began to rotate before it opened. Once there, the doors opened diagonally to reveal a dimly lit red room. It was cozy, but after closer inspection revealed its contents.
Strange rifles from all sizes stacked four rows high, and at least forty long.
Douglas rubbed his hands together liking what he was seeing, "Ooohooo, there's enough for an entire company in here."
"Help yourselves," Kenobi said, "there are weapons here for every situation one would need."
"Help yourselves," Kenobi said, "there are weapons here for every situation one would need."
Alice went ahead and grabbed two rifles off the wall. They were short and had no stocks, and in her hands they looked like large pistols. At the front were two slanted triangle shaped iron sights, with the magazine sticking a bit out of the side. The trigger and grip was normal, which was a slight relief.
"What are these called?"
"Those would be DC-15S Carbine Blasters," Kenobi replied.
She grabbed extra magazines, and magnetically attached them to her waist.
Jerome on the other hand, grabbed a long rifle off the wall. It had a long stock, unlike the others, and had a front grip. The front barrel had coolant fins that were striped a bit with an iron sight on top. It looked to be the perfect size, and Jerome too grabbed extra magazines off the rack. He looked to his right and grabbed two metal spheres that looked like grenades, and attached them to his waist.
"What's this?"
"It's a DC-15A Blaster, a full sized rifle."
Douglas though, picked up the first one he saw. It was one of the better ones there.
Obi-Wan piped up, "That's a DC-17M Commando Rifle. It was an experimental weapon platform that was too expensive for mass production. "
Inspecting it, he could see where the magazine went in on the side, along with numbers telling how much Tibanna was still in the mag. It didn't have a back sight, but had two front ones. Looking relatively small in his hand, he stood still in contemptment.
Jorge though, couldn't find anything that he wanted. Searching and searching, through rack after rack, he still was not pleased.
Finally though, in the back, he saw it. Approaching the one weapon type he loved, he picked it up.
"Oh my, what a beauty…"
"That's a Z-6 Blaster Cannon, and the newest model as well."
A Republic Gatling gun was what he picked up. It had multiple barrels encircling a main valve, connected by three tubes and a central battery bank.
This model itself had two handles, and although it was a little small in the Spartan's arms, it was still comfortable to use something close to his beloved Etilka. Jorge held up the weapon and revved it a little, causing the Gatling's barrels to rotate.
"Oh this is gonna be fun…"
Alice smiled seeing Jorge delighting himself, "Forgot how much you loved those."
He chuckled, eyes still locked on such a wonderful tool, "Love isn't the right word Allie… more like a passion…"
Kenobi, seeing that they had their weapon of choice picked out, nodded once, "right, now that we are ready, Commander Cody has a platoon in the hanger waiting for us."
"Good to hear General," said Jerome.
Then, one after another, the Spartans walked out of the armory to the hanger. Although it wasn't that far of a walk, they did get attention.
Clones that passed again were captivated by the Spartans, even more so seeing them with their weaponry.
Jorge sighed once looking down to the machine gun and mumbled, "Good to be back…"
Then, Obi-Wan pressed a panel on the side of the metallic wall. And as such, the door diagonally opened revealing the hanger.
Inside, this hanger had far more crates than the others. And, there was a strange tan ship with red colored stripes. It looked like some sort of a drop ship, having long wings pointed to the ground, with middle doors opened like a helicopter.
At the front, one could observe two windshields at the top. Two pilots sat in there wearing yellow tinted helmets. They were pushing buttons in their cockpits and were preparing for liftoff.
In front of this drop ship, was another. There were two in this hanger, but the one in the front seemed newer and already loaded up. It was locked tight and ready for takeoff.
Then, most attention was given to the middle of the hanger, to an orange striped clone. His armor was dirty, and looked old… a veteran. On top he had a visor above his helmet, and a communication antenna sticking out of his shoulder.
And as he approached the Spartans with hands politely folded behind his back, he was in a military stance.
"This the group you were telling me about sir?" he asked.
Kenobi nodded, "Yes Cody, these Spartans are going to accompany us. They have more experience with this 'Covenant' than we do."
"Right sir," he turned to the other clones, who were behind them and getting their things ready by the crates, "time to go boys!"
Trying not to stare at the super-soldiers in MJOLNIR, they moved onto the drop ship opening on the side.
While Red Team followed Kenobi onto the LAAT vessel from the other side.
Douglas though, noticed the painting on the side of the ship. It was of a blue humanoid in a bikini, displayed for all to see her feminine painted body. She was smiling and in a modeling pose, and was very strange.
He then shook his head laughing to himself, "Some things just never change..."
Cody, in the front, signaled the pilot, and the ship's doors closed in tight. It might have been vacuum sealed, as they could hear it pressurize.
Once onboard, now the clones couldn't help but look at their accomplices. Their armor glistened just like their own in the darkness of the closed ships. But, the overhead lights turned on, letting loose a dim red color that went around them.
Jorge though noticed as an observation that this group of soldiers had various orange stripes on their armor. Nothing like the shining white armor that he saw on the cruiser, or back in the laboratory.
"Maybe a certain company or group?"
Added, these clones looked older as a whole, and more experienced. Their armor seemed worn and used, with little dirty patches on the side, like their commander.
A Lot of their heads had black lines and crosses through them, particularly on the sides and cheeks. The older the armor looked on each soldier, the more lines on the helmet it had.
"Could be the amount of battles they've been in?"
And with each clone he looked at, he gained more respect for. Veterans know the true price of war. And it seems they want the enemy to know who they are, the men in orange.
But looking in the far back, two clones had seemingly new armor. They had their own orange colors and decorations, but they seemed newer. Also, they were definitely not silent like the others. They were mumbling to each other, conversing back and forth.
And so, they could feel their ship being hoisted upward by the engine. The weight shook the clones a bit, but not the Spartans. What scared the men a bit was that the vessel stuttered due to the weight of the Spartans that were onboard. But, once in the air, the ride was smooth.
After taking off, and seemingly out of the Battleship they were in, they began to make their way to Naboo's surface.
Kenobi, holding on to the railing above them, turned to the orange clone captain who was to his right, "alright men, these Spartans will be with us on this mission."
A bit of whispering and murmurs went about the clones hearing this. Being fairly loud, and having fifteen or so clones inside, Kenobi held up his arm.
They saw, and the group immediately went silent.
That was, except for the two in the back.
They, in fact, kept on mumbling, which did get the captain's attention quickly who was right next to them. He slapped one of them upside the head, getting them to be quiet.
"Boil, Waxer, shut up!" he said.
The two clones shrugged it off and did what the commanding officer asked. The one who was hit though, shook his head clearly disoriented for a moment by that slap.
Seeing the room was finally quiet, Kenobi spoke, "Our objective is to retake the laboratory... and these 'Zealots' as they are called, are hostile… and from our knowledge there are four of them, but there could be more." He turned to Jerome, "this here is Spartan Jerome, the commander of these Spartans."
S092 stepped forward, not even holding onto the hand railings above him. Looking around, now he had all of the clone's attention, "the Zealots are shielded, and are not taken down easily… their shots are far beyond accurate, so take cover the best you can… their weakness is any skin in between their armor. Well placed shots in there can make their shields drop faster… the face too will also disorient them if you land a shot. Once their shields are down, you can tell by the static blue looks on their armor… from there, they are incredibly weak, multiple shots to the body, or one to the head will finish the job."
With the clones nodding to Jerome, he continued, "this plan is simple, but will require everyone's part for it to work." He took a deep breath speaking again, "Myself and Alice will take one group, and Douglas and Kenobi will take the other… Jorge will take the support group, whose sole job is to lay down cover fire. Elites may be stronger and faster than you, but they can't fire in two places at once, take advantage of that… we will then scout the base for more potential Covenant once these Zealots are gone… and remember, we have the element of surprise, so make the most of it, and don't waste it… potentially catching Zealots off guard like this is not something you get everyday."
Waiting for Jerome to finish, Kenobi spoke, "Alright men, you have your orders!"
"Sir yes sir!" All the clones said in one accord.
After the briefing, it didn't take long to reach Naboo's surface. The flight was quick, yet even so, the clones still couldn't stop looking at the Spartans, and as could the Spartans to the clones.
They were both humans, but to see something so drastically different… was strange indeed.
Even so, the sense of respect was definitely there. Each side had no idea where the other came from, but mutual respect as soldiers was enough. They both knew that they were just another man fighting for their country… for their people.
The clone officer in the front, looked down to his wrist, then back to the group, "Alright boys, we are coming up on the drop zone!"
Finally, they could feel the touch-down as their ship hit the surface. Following, the doors of the drop ship opened up, and light ran through.
As always, it took a moment for everyone's eyes to adjust to such a blinding white. And yet it didn't matter. Both clone and Spartan poured out of the ship, and into the hazy swamp.
The smell was pungent and strong. Jorge and Kenobi had already encountered such a thing, so they were a little used to it.
Revving up and moving away, the drop ship went. And taking one last look up, Alice put up the clone rifles, and was dual-wielding.
Nodding once, Kenobi ignited his lightsaber in hand. It's blue reflective light went around and acted as a flashlight amongst the gunk.
He started to move, jogging ahead to one of the entrances of the laboratory.
"Go to the south side, the entrance is only a few meters from here, the second platoon will take the east," the General said, " I will go with the Spartans to the west."
The captain nodded, taking the order, "Sir!"
As they split up, the size of their group came in thirds. Jorge followed the signs of ash and scorch marks, with a group of fifteen or so clones from behind.
Off in the deep swampy woods he could see Jerome's team, with them each second slowly disappearing out of sight.
Even so, each step in the mud created a slushy sound, making it hard to be 'stealthy'. Jorge of course, at this point, tried the best he could, but it of course was no avail.
Yet it didn't matter, as the entrance was only another thirty feet away. Blazed trees and burnt dirty told much of what happened in this area.
So much of the environment here replaced, and some of the trees one could tell were still burning due to the strange sulfur.
The fog of this swamp would have made these seared grounds almost unnoticed. But the slight dip-downs and hills that the bombs created left a clear indicator.
And with these craters, was a giant hole in the floor. It was again the same size, and was in fact the same hole Jorge had entered from before.
With this, the hazy of the swamp was flawless, and Jorge in fact would've tripped into the hole if not for the obvious scorch and crater marks. So much so that it seems the fog had entered the laboratory. He actually didn't recognize that he had been here before, due to the swamp constantly changing.
The Spartan had to hold back his walking, to keep consistent pace with the clones. Their strides were half of Jorge, which told a lot in the trudging gunk.
He looked around for a rope, and grabbed it with his spare left hand. Pulling it out of the mud, it was now dirty and wet.
Waiting for the other soldiers, they too grabbed hold of the many other ropes that lied around.
Jorge tugged on his a little, seeing if it was still secure.
"Alright men, let's go," said the captain, looking at the platoon of thirty or so clones.
The Spartan took the lead, jumping into the black abyss. Using the rope necessarily as a guide hand, he hit the seared ground below.
The landing created a loud crash, crunching much of the metal beneath him. He looked up, to see the clones too jumping into the hole behind him. It didn't take long for the clones to come down one after another.
Although it was hard to tell, since the light of day was blocked by such a hazy.
Jorge though saw them beginning to enter, took the lead. Zip Lining down, they waited for their commanding officer before continuing.
Once he arrived, the orange captain glared around to Jorge who was in the front, waiting for the que to go press in.
With a nod of approval, Jorge again took the lead into the dark metal corridor.
With the light of the swamp above them, and the foggy abyss in front, they began to move.
The darkness around them had a weight to it. It was the weight of death… and it was honestly a little frightening.
Jorge pressed a button on the sides of his helmet, turning on a flashlight. They were small and circular, but extended enough to see in front of him.
Light beamed out of his flashlights, extending their warm glare onto anything they touched. He could see now all of the destroyed bunker parts in detail… and it wasn't a pretty sight.
Now the clones followed suit and did the same. But rather, they had two on each side of their helmet, giving more view to see. They all now had a good sense of visibility, even though they were in a dark corridor.
Many clone bodies as one could see were still there, along with droid limbs. Scorched walls, along with debris all around, and with more bodies countless, this war zone had yet to be cleaned up from the previous battle.
It was dark, like the power had been shot off. Added, it was quiet, and very eerie. The hazy of the swamp had infiltrated the bunker. It blended into the floor, and one couldn't see his ankles because of it.
As much visibility was decreased, making the room more ominous. Even then, the corpses, plus the fog, made this almost like a horror scene.
Carefully stepping over bodies and other rubbish, Jorge still had his cannon pointed forward.
The smell was unbelievably repulsive. No one made any comments on it because no one needed to. Everyone knew how bad it was, and yet it was somewhat ignorable after the first ten or so whiffs.
They as a group searched most of the laboratory on their end, and found nothing. Through more empty corridors and more corpses, nothing was found. The dark corridors did not relent, and neither did the fog.
Even where the bomb armory was, where the Zealots attacked, a wall of fog embraced this battlefield.
And with this, Jorge began to think this bunker was abandoned, like a hit and run.
Then, a broadcast came in through the captain's radio. It was on his wrist, bar shaped and glowing green..
"Hold on I got something," said the captain.
This communication was unbelievably staticed. Bringing it closer to his head, the captain listened in.
Consistent and constant gunfire was the only thing for a few moments. It was loud, but it was quickly followed by piercing screams, and unyielding wails. They were so loud that he had to hold his arm away a bit from his head. This carnage was unbelievable…
Most of the clones sputtered and stopped hearing this. But then, a voice came and was readable.
"Kzzzt…. I can't see them sir! Wait! There! Over there! Kzzzzt…"
Unfortunately, it was too patchy as the screams only got louder. So much so that anything else was next to inaudible.
"That's the General's group!" said one of the clones in the back.
Quickly nodding, the orange captain hoisted up his blaster rifle, "come on, we can cut through the hanger, the containment room is just on the other side."
Without any more question or word, the clones began to move. It took Jorge all of two seconds to follow them, taking the lead again.
Dashing through the corridor, trying not to trip over the huge amount of droid limbs and the few clone corpses.
But, as they approached the bunker hanger down the dark corridor, Jorge could hear something… talking.
Quickly sticking up his fist, the clones behind the Spartan in their marching line halted in their tracks.
As they did, they could hear the Sangheili talking in their native tongue. It was muffled behind the wall, but some pronunciations were heard. No language they could recognize, or even relate it to.
This was truly alien to the clones.
But it stopped…
They listened still, trying to find more.
But still nothing… Now this frightened the clones. As their flashlights were the only thing giving a sense of security.
Jorge slowly moved forward… and the clones followed at the same pace. It was unbelievably eerie… and was getting worse by the second.
Then, one of the clones in the back, saw something. It was almost… invisible yet had a strange yet seeable outline.
Aiming his weapon, he blinked a few times thinking he was seeing things, "what the…"
Out of the blue, without rhyme or reason, the form of the elite was revealed out of its camouflage, with an energy sword ignited in hand.
It was bright blue, and caught everyone's attention. Having the fog foil are around the blade, it only gave the illusion that the blade was brighter than it actually was.
The crimson Zealot now within highlights of the clones, quickly lunged at one, killing him with one swipe.
The moan of the clone being sent backwards, was the initiation of their retaliation.
Without word, the entire platoon of clones opened fire upon this huge Zealot.
Blue flashes of light immediately lit up the corridor, so much so that one would no longer need flashlights. Being unbelievably loud, it instantaneously pelted the Zealot.
Now, the Zealot quickly began to change back into its camouflage, moving off to the side. Foiling it's mandibles, it growled at them once.
It was strange, as they watched its armor perfectly blend into the surroundings. Now completely gone again… the game has begun.
Being out of sight, the clones stopped firing.
"Where'd he go?" asked one of the corporals.
"Careful," spoke Jorge aloud to the group, "this is gonna be a little tricky, he is invisible, look for the outlining on the armor."
The captain turned to the corporal, "I don't think this is— graaa!"
Quickly looking in his direction, the captain was moaning in complete agony. He was glowing blue. But then after closer inspection, a Covenant energy sword from the Zealot was sticking out of his chest. He was impaled upon the blade, and it freaked the clones out a bit.
Blood trickled down the side of his armor, as he looked down, his wounds unbearable.
Groaning more, he was hoisted into the air, six or so inches off the ground. This caused the sounds of bones to break, as his ribs began to split.
"Your demon cannot save you…" an ominous snaky voice came from behind the impaled clone.
Then, it arched its arm back, causing the clone on the sword to slide off and collapse to the floor. Blood covered the glowing blue blade, but for some reason dispersed as time quickly passed.
Now going to a complete rag-doll, they knew immediately their commanding officer was dead.
Still invisible, the clones had no idea what to do. They began to murmur to each other, a little scared.
Ten more seconds past and a clone saw something.
"There!" he yelled, turning his blaster rifle and opening fire.
Three blue shots went flying into the wall. Two scorch marks landing on it told that it missed. But the third shot caused a strange ripple, not causing a black mark.
This invisible elite, now exposed, ignited his sword, its blue blade simmering a bit. Blood from its previous victim, still upon the blade and beginning to steam and incinerate.
The clones now opened fire, seeing this Zealot charge at them. Being only ten feet away, it quickly started chopping soldiers down like it was nothing. Swipe and swing, their twenty or so platoon began to shrink quickly.
Also, now being next to Jorge, he took a bold swing at him. He was very fast, even for an elite, but Jorge was acquainted from previous experiences with Zealots.
Ducking low, and squatting down, he barely missed the bright sword.
Meanwhile, the elite started to take fire from the other clones. From behind, they got the counter on him. Not seeing this coming, it turned to face these orange soldiers.
Jorge then, took advantage of it looking away for just a brief moment. And as fast as the eye could blink, he with his left arm, ripped out the most gnarly Spartan uppercut.
Moaning in pain, the collision made it straight into the Sangheili's soft stomach. Blood spat out of its mouth, causing it to stutter a bit.
Now pissed at Jorge, it quickly turned back to its advisory. It lunged again with its sword, this time with a lower swing.
Jorge was going to raise his cannon like a shield, being confined to such a small corridor.
But it stuttered, as a well placed shot from behind knocked off its crimson helmet causing it to fall forward. The crab-like helmet hit the floor, now revealing the hideous face of the elite.
But the sword he swung instinctively went higher, missing Jorge by a hair.
It's head was smooth like a snake's reptilian skin. It's helmet covered such a disgusting face, but now it was for all to see.
Their flashlights made its scales even more visible and reflective, its color being a dark blue. Added, it's eyes were a dark orange, and were glowing in the light.
Now realizing it made a mistake. It underestimated the clones, and especially a demon.
Jorge though was confused. Zealots are never confused… and they definitely do not underestimate. The fact that this one did was… odd...
Beginning to turn invisible, it made a run for an opening in the group hoping to make an exit.
Jorge then yelled, "Oh no you don't!"
Gripping the elites shoulder, Jorge pushed him into the wall. Once it collided, the clones saw that Jorge was out of the way.
Opening fire, the clones then fired a wall of bolts into the Zealot. Even more blue lasers went the twenty feet into the shields of the elite. Their headlights gave much collective view to this abomination, and was a little intimidating.
Even more so, it became a larger target with each gained attack. That was because of its shields. They grew to a bright blue, absorbing more hits.
Pulling up its plasma rifle, from its hilt, it attempted to return fire.
But Jorge got its attention by throwing another cross. This elite barely missed the punch, weaving back almost hitting the wall again.
Now cornered, it started slashing in random directions. Was it afraid? And now it was obvious that it underestimated the opposition.
With blade moving, everyone backed up to the best they could. As a few couldn't get out of the way, the elite chopped these clones down. Two clones fell back immediately dead, with huge black slashes across their chests.
The Spartan dropped his cannon, and moved in on the elite. The dropping of such a large piece of metal made a little ripple on the floor. This caused the attention of the elite to turn back to Jorge. Now looking at him fully in the light, he noticed something.
This elite was small, almost too small. Being up to his chest, the elite was barely seven feet tall. Added, its skin did look smooth, and not as rough as most elites he had seen. This elite… was too young to be here. Then why is it a Zealot? Why here?
Furrowing its mandibles, this creature was menacing the way it glared. Even being a slight juvenile, a Zealot still is something not to mess with.
Swinging his sword again, Jorge ducked, immediately bursting forward and tackling the elite.
It grunted much, coughing up more blood. Only then to be slammed by the weight of the Spartan, straight into the laboratory hallway wall.
Now a little bent over, Jorge gripped the back of its neck quickly before it could respond. Thrusting his knee to its face, the collision of metal was absolutely brutal.
Hearing bone crunching, three of its mandibles instantly broke on impact… Along with many of its teeth. Without a helmet, the fleshy parts of its face were extremely exposed, doing an insane amount of damage.
Pulling him back up, and a little dazed, the dark room lit by only headlights on the reflective scales revealed the horrifying sight.
It's mandibles were completely mauled, and so much purple blood was dripping out of its lips. Much blistered and discolored/bruised skin. There was even more… but it was too graphic for Jorge to care about.
This felt… a little… too easy. Never had he done so much damage to such a prestigious class of elite. Three hits and it was already looking mutilated...
Without taking a second, Jorge threw a quick jab with his left fist. This sent this Zealot was vaguely dazed and stuttered back into the wall.
Having a second of pause, the elite stood there looking around. Seeing clones with weapons raised, and looking to fire on any moment, and Jorge in front… it gave up?
Bowing its head low, it looked mangled and very bruised. Blood dripped from its face, and it seems it was surrendering.
And yet in mumbled, and was almost inaudible. Except to the Spartan.
With all lights glaring on it, it looked up particularly to the demon. Which one could tell it was a struggle due to the reaction of its injuries.
"Farnel vor Diro… Sarvyl kol Aru…Gaqrev now… Dur'an bow…"
(Divine wind… ready mind… final prayer… holy flare)
Jorge was quickly drawn to the elites hand. And as it stuck up his fist, he noticed a plasma grenade in it.
The Zealot pressed the red button in the center, then causing everything around it to glow to a blinding blue. Almost like a bright fireball encased the sphere, yet not burning its hand. It was surprisingly since it seems it was on fire… and yet it wasn't. Even so, it looked up to Jorge and the clones, blood covered and mangled. It was grinning with half its face broken.
But the very second this grenade was activated, Jorge knew what it was.
Turning around to the clones, the Spartan yelled, "get down!"
Now in response they did their best, but for some it was too late.
A massive explosion sent blazing fire that engulfed a large radius. And it was very loud, almost ear shattering. Everyone's eyes squinted as the light was almost blinding. A flash, followed immediately by a boom. This sent a lot of them flying back to the floor, telling an untold amount of damage.
The light was hot, and was very strange compared to a lot of other explosions that had been seen before. Causing much chaos, ears began to ring loudly amongst the clones.
Smoke and ash filled the corridor as an aftershock, with its haze making it hard to see.
Another moment passed and Jorge got up grabbing his cannon.
"Everyone alright?"
Seeing at least ten troopers still moving, they assessed the situation.
"Flash, Lucky, and Will are dead…" said one of the clones investigating the seared corpses, from where the explosion was.
"Shit…" Jorge murmured, before speaking back aloud, "we gotta keep moving."
"Right," said one of them, "the hanger is just around the corner, let's go."
Without any further question, the soldiers darted around the laboratory corridor. This hall though was fairly empty, except for the battle scene and the scorched Zealot corpse behind them.
Much huffing of breathing was the only thing. Though the Spartan was about ten feet in front, jogging not to outpace the clones.
Even then… that elite… something is really off about all of this. But now is not the time to think about such things.
But then turning the bend, Jorge glanced into it to see a huge hanger. It was mostly destroyed, and was empty, except for the bug-like ship from before sitting in the middle.
The blinding light of day struck into the bunker, as the hanger doors opened up. From down the middle, and mechanism cranking loudly, the blue sky of Naboo revealed for them.
Almost like vampires reacting to sunlight, everyone who saw stuttered trying to readjust to sunlight.
As such, the fog on the floor began to dissipate a little. Almost being foliated by the light. This caused Jorge to obtain a better view of this hanger.
It was ginormous, with enough debris and crates to form a huge maze. They were scattered around left and right, with almost no end in sight. Plenty of good places for cover. Added, there were two bunker doors that were red and closed on the far left and right, three hundred feet away or so.
And, in the center of the opened hanger was four Zealots conversing. They hadn't noticed Jorge, and that was a relief.
Their armor was magnificent, and was almost glowing in the reflective light. Their blue marks on their body and heads flowed with what seemed to be energy, and was a bit intimidating.
Now these were true Sangheili. Standing around eight feet tall, with dark purple scaly skin. These looked older and far more experienced.
On their hilts, Jorge quickly noticed each Elite on his left thigh had an energy sword, making this much more of a gruesome task. Swords in the hands of the well trained elite could be a dangerous complication.
There were three of them in this hanger, and they all seemed a bit oblivious to them being there.
Then, out of nowhere, blue plasma bolts streaked across the hanger, hitting the Zealots from behind. Those that didn't make contact hit the crates behind the elites, pelting and leaving heavy scorch marks.
Not taking wounds, but shields glowing to bright blue, they turned around to face their enemy, drawing their weapons from their hilts.
It was Jerome's team, and they just engaged.
Jerome, and Alice were dashing out of the side door, on the far side of the hanger, opening fire to the group from their blaster rifles. Along with them, were at least fifteen orange clones coordinating fire. To be seen working together like this, one would think it was spectacular.
Jorge in turn quickly ran ahead, revving up his Gatling gun.
Meanwhile his clones, hearing the battleground, made haste and ran into the hanger. They now found cover behind crates and other large objects. Passing around Jorge, they made their positions and made themselves right at home.
Then seeing their targets, they too began to open fire with Jerome's team onto the elites.
Seeing themselves surrounded, the three Zealots darted behind some crates next to them. Not fully out of view, the clones and Spartans still pelted their cover.
Jorge while, let loose his rotating machine of death, and watched it wreak havoc. Plasma bullets moved at such high speeds from his machine gun that it looked like one long laser. Blue lights illuminated his visor and front armor, leaving much destruction in its wake.
So much so, it was the loudest weapon in the hanger.
They began to pelt the Elites cover, hitting another Zealot and seeing his shields glow blue even brighter.
In response, Zealots knew they were surrounded, being in the back corner of the room. But, one of them created cover fire, shooting his needle rifle, consistently hitting clones in the head.
Many of their brethren scrambled to check for wounded, and many other things. It was unbelievably scary since they hadn't encountered such accuracy from their enemy.
As orange clones began to drop on the right side of the crates, their quick moans of death added to the chaotic hanger, others took cover.
The moans, gunfire, and more screams. All normal in warfare, all that they were used to both clone and Spartan. As such, the hanger made the chaos even louder as it echoed in the large hanger.
These shots were amazing, any normal elite would not have been able to do such a feat. But these were not normal elites at all.
Their crimson armor gave away in their surroundings, being that the room and crates were grey and metallic.
The fighting went on for a few more moments, and they had the elites quickly cornered amongst their cover. They made almost effortless work to take shots at the clones, but the added support of the demons made this far more difficult of a task.
Then in the back, Jorge noticed something.
Everyone was too busy on the current battle to notice, but he did.
It was Kenobi, and Douglas, fighting what seems to be… the Field Marshall.
Scattered around them though was countless clone bodies, which would explain the screams on the captains comm earlier.
Going back and forth, Kenobi and the bigger Marshall were surprisingly evenly matched in swordsmanship. Every swipe, every parry would be met with a block followed by a counterattack.
Kenobi moved in front, seeing Spartan 042 now in CQC with the Sangheili.
Through a swing with its sword, the red elite attempted to swipe a blow to the demon's head. It was fast and hard, as wind broke through its strike.
But Douglas saw this coming and ducked, and threw a gnarly elbow to the elites gut.
The blow was a good one, and made contact. The Zealot flinched and coughed a bit, but not much other than that. These Sangheili can take a definite beating...
The punch wasn't his strongest, and the elite took advantage of that. This Field Marshall responded quickly by a front kick, sending the Spartan back a bit. Metal screeched created sparks as a one ton super soldier was equalized by such a blow.
Falling back and quickly to his feet, he was only dazed for a moment, but just enough.
Kenobi though, saw his opening and struck. Swinging his lightsaber in an upward motion, attempting to hit the side.
Though, the elite blocked it with his sword, creating blue sparks of light as blade hit blade.
Swipe after swipe, and again now parry after parry, the Field Marshall and General were unmoved. Not a single hit landed whatsoever.
Each clash created many blue flashing sparks, and more energy to be dispersed.
Kenobi was actually surprised that such a warrior would be so skilled with a sword. Even one with such a strange design as this. Being Obi-Wan was a force wielder, and the elite was faster than any normal human, they were beyond evenly matched.
Douglas though, in the back behind the crates, could see the bright flashes of swords clashing against each other. He quickly ran back over to assist the General, seeing an opening.
But, even such a skilled warrior as a Field Marshall could not fight both Jedi and Spartan at the same time.
Raising the commando rifle, Douglas opened fire, hitting the elite in the side.
Blue puffs of energy came out of the barrel, streaking to its target. The elite flinched as his shields turned to a bright blue taking some damage.
Being stunned, it quickly turned and blocked some of the shots with its plasma blade. This caused more blue sparks to puff into the air as blue bolts deflected off the blade, smashing into the floor in some cases.
But then in response, the Marshall needed to quickly switch back to Kenobi, seeing that the Jedi began to counterattack.
Kenobi then attacked, with a downward stroke, causing the elite to block the best he could with his sword upward.
While Douglas, quickly reloaded his Commando Rifle only to add more supporting fire back into the crimson leader.
This back and forth fighting with Kenobi, Douglas, and the Marshall went on for awhile, and slowly carried onto the main battle.
For being outnumbered 2 to 1, the elite was holding its ground fairly well against both Spartan and Jedi, but he only could do it for so long.
In the front, the Zealots could see their commander pinned, and gave assistance. Blue and purple bolts from needles and plasma flew in Douglas' direction, hitting him in many places.
His armor took the beating, as he had no shields on his older and outdated MJOLNIR armor. Most shots that were fired missed the Spartan, but those that hit created marks and dents in his armor.
He was then forced to take cover, backing away from the sword fight.
The other Zealots though, seeing the opportunity, opened fire again. This sent many shots of Blamite and plasma across the hanger, in Douglas direction.
"Fire in the hole!" said Jerome, throwing a thermal detonator from behind the crates.
Like an arched rainbow, it flew over the chaotic battle, landing perfectly in the center of the elite's precious cover.
Not a moment later, a massive explosion of fire went into the air, sending much shrapnel and debris around.
A ball of fire engulfed by ash filled the air, covering the view of the elites a bit.
The remaining fifteen or so clones, followed accordingly and pushed up, taking cover closer to the Zealots. They were only thirty feet away from each other now, and within very close proximity.
Jorge while pushed up with them, still sending countless rounds into the smoke where the grenade went off.
He was using one of the larger crates as a bi-pod. Having his weapon on top of it, and holding it steady, he was in cover yet obliterating the elites cover to a seared black.
The weapons munition seemed endless, as Jorge kept firing into it without mercy.
Normally, this much fire and chaos could make some deaf, but not these soldiers. The Spartans have too advanced hearing, and the clones were specifically bred for war.
But even so, Alice followed in behind Jorge seeing the distraction he was creating. She had both clone rifles raised, ready to obliterate any elite she would see.
The smoke faded, and it seems the Zealots were unaffected. Their shields were low, but mostly alright.
The battle got only heavier, seeing no side would budge. More smoke, more gunfire, and more chaos came into presuit. Jorge and Alice pinned the right side, with two squads of clones. While Jerome and another squad, held the left.
It didn't take long, but finally, Jerome threw another grenade, and this one, did some damage.
Again, a perfect arch was seen as another detonator flew into the Zealots cover.
A loud explosion, with fire, smoke and ash filled that area, it was a lot larger than the previous, and engulfed the surrounding areas. Along with this fireball, came with many Sangheili moans.
The fireball that it created was larger and did far more damage moving crates and debris out of place.
Taking advantage, Jerome quickly turned to Alice who was thirty feet away to his right.
"Alice! Their one tap!"
"On it!" she yelled back.
Then, like an Angel, she dashed ahead, effortlessly around the clones and Jorge, passing the crates and into the open battle.
Jumping upwards, she was getting pretty good elevation. Now in her Spartan time, she could see the Zealots clearly, and one with statically blue armor, still disoriented by the explosion. Being above the battlefield around her, she now has a perfect shot upon these Sangheili.
Four bright blue laser bolts rounds came out of her weapon, and added to the chaos of the war torn hanger.
But these landed killing blows in one the neck and head of the vulnerable Zealots.
Taking one last breath of life, the Zealot fell backward after its head wounds into death. Moaning aloud, the others quickly turned to find their brother who had fallen.
Three remaining Zealots looked to each other dazed and still in mid-battle. They had not fallen, and yet more battle-hardened than ever.
But now, the clones took advantage of seeing the aliens down a man. And as such, their defenses began to fall apart.
And as of which, one of the Zealot's went into a rage. Igniting his energy sword, it screamed some words in the Sangheili language, a battle chant of some kind.
Jumping out of his cover, it charged full force into a group of clones who were in their cover, about twenty feet away. Without remorse, or any other emotion, and like a machine, it was not going to stop.
Then following, and tanking hits from both clone and Spartan, its shields quickly depleted. Not even caring, it jumped over the crates, and started swinging at the clones.
Being inferior in both speed and strength, they were cut apart like grass. Jorge's squad of fifteen clones almost immediately turned to two, as this elite in a berserking rage sought vengeance for its fallen comrade. It was roaring with absolute rage, and was skillful about it too.
Screams and pleas of agony were truly filling the room. The clones one accord of horror was far louder than any of the gunfire.
The last two clones were about to be mauled by this warrior, and with total ease. But catching him off guard, these two soldiers tackled the elite. This caused the Zealot to lose grip of his energy sword, as he expected these soldiers not to be of any resistance. Crashing into the metallic ground, the elite grunted loudly. This crash was not as loud as most gunshots in the hanger, but armor slamming into metal echoed for a moment.
Now on the floor, they wrestled the Zealot. And to Jorge's surprise, it was the two younger orange clones… Waxer and Boil.
They, together, pinned the elite, restraining him the best they could. Waxer gripped his right arm, preventing the Sangheili from reaching his sword, which was barely out of reach. Waxer struggled using both arms and his legs to hold back the elite, and he was starting to lose leverage grunting alot.
Now throwing a punch with his free arm, the crimson elite landed a gnarly blow to Waxer's chest, causing him to cough loudly. Falling back to the floor, the clone released the grip of this elite.
Then with his right hand freed, he reached for his sword, only to stutter by a knee to the face. A knee by Boil, sent straight into the mandibles, drew much purple blood spewing out.
Now pissed, it ignited its sword, and was about to take a swing to Boil. It's white pulsing light came inches to Boil's face, and he braced for the worst. It was almost blinding with two angled blades ready to impale him.
It hesitated in pain again, barely missing Boil and glancing over his head. Looking up quickly, Boil noticed quickly that Waxer two had hit the elite in his exposed neck, using his Blaster rifle as a melee weapon.
Then, Jorge took the scene, moving up to the elite who was about to roll over and stand back up. He could see these clones would not last anymore against such a bigger monster, so he needed to act quick.
Being ten feet from the three, he took a gnarly swing to the elites head. Air was forced around, making a loud whizzing sound.
Bone crunching, and muscles tearing was the only thing to be heard. Jorge's Z-6 Blaster Cannon, which he used like a club, slammed to a full Spartan force into the elites skull.
The elite, now completely lifeless, let go of the two clones, going completely limp. It did not even take in a last breath, as its face was absolutely mashed.
Waxer and Boil, now a bit exasperated, sat back, then stood back up fatigued a bit.
"That could have hit me!" said Boil.
Jorge laughed, taking effort to pry the Minigun out of the pressed head. This caused more blood to spurt from the corpse, "Yeah, yeah, just let the big man do his job."
The machine gun was purple blood covered, and a bit dented, but still usable. Jorge revved up the cannon again, his soul still happy seeing such a sight.
Then with the rotating valves far beyond the eye could track, blue laser bolts were fired beyond seeable speed, went back to their original targets.
After this, some of the seared crates fell apart, after not being able to take anymore abuse. This caused one one of the crimson elites into the crosshairs of Jorge, exposed.
Turning the gun a bit, Jorge's minigun began to pelt one of them, seeing their shields drop quickly.
Without their shields, they were now fair game.
His Gatling gun made quick work of one, blazing its armor to the point of beyond recognition. It crashed against the wall, not even taking a final breath.
Quickly though, all attention was given back to the front of the hanger, as Kenobi, Douglas, and the Field Marshall still were brawling it out.
"Look! It's the General!" Boil said.
They made haste to quickly blitzkrieging down the hanger. Only being fifty yards from the three, it wouldn't take long. In one marching line, the clones followed in from behind the much faster Spartans.
Even then, the Marshall knew it was outmatched and outnumbered. Seeing the approaching mob of clones and Spartans, it panicked.
So, as this particular cowardly leader would do… it ran.
Gripping a plasma grenade off its belt, it threw it towards Kenobi.
He, in response, barely missed it and force jumped around Douglas. Like a graceful Phoenix, Kenobi truly was not a force to be reckoned with. He perfectly and effortlessly landed next to him.
But as the blue light got brighter, and the whizzing of energy released, Douglas yelled, "get back!"
An explosion followed quickly of bright blue light, and debris flying into the air. Both Spartan and Jedi dived back a few meters, doing their best to dodge such an explosion.
They barely missed the grenade, as it created a blue fireball, and smoke screen that no one could see through.
Douglas immediately got up following the ash, and pulled up Kenobi.
Going through the ash, they could hear a ship's engine revving up… and it sounds like it was already in the air.
With this, the Spartan and Jedi quickly noticed what happened.
Looking up, they could see that Sangheili was in the ship, and was already in the air, flying away.
It was a bit clunky, as one could tell, as the elite obviously had never flown such a vessel before.
The remaining Spartans and clones that had just caught up to the edge of the hanger, opened fire upon the separatist bug-ship.
But it seemingly did not affect, as the ship just moved farther into the sky and further outside weapons range. It was moving quickly, but uncononicoly. Easily one could tell that this was its first time flying such a vessel.
Seeing that he escaped, Kenobi raised his wrist, and pressed a button on it.
"Cody? There is an enemy drop ship coming your direction, open fire on it now!"
Then quickly answering, "Yes sir," was all that was heard.
But somehow, and someway, it was too late...
The ship quickly got smaller, vanishing from sight. As it disappeared, it jumped to Hyperspace. It left a little ripple in the air, jumping within the atmosphere. The trajectory seemed to be random, since it jumped into Hyperspace so quickly.
Shots still for a moment fired from everyone, then quickly ceased seeing they had vanished.
Everyone then was angry that the enemy got away. Yet the confusion felt was a lot greater at the same time. They stuttered for a moment, all looking to find out what to do. No one saw this coming… Kenobi didn't even sense this.
They all now looked to each other, and the clones quickly did a head count to see who was still breathing.
But now the Spartans, while even more so confused, looked to Kenobi, who was just in a conundrum as they.
Now pissed, Douglas shrugged, "how'd he figure out the controls so fast?"
"I don't know…" said Alice, "I have never seen any Zealot group like this before, they are so… brutal."
Jorge tilted and faced her, "I don't think anyone has…"
Kenobi put his lightsaber hilt back onto his waistband, crossing his arms. "Right… matter is, we have to find where the Zealot went."
"Could you track the jump?" asked Jerome.
"Probably not, it was too fast and clearly random."
"Hm, well I think—"
His thought was interrupted by the communicator on his wrist, from General Windu.
He seemed off, and a little agitated. Which did get the generals attention, since he had dearly ever heard Windu this way.
"Kenobi? Master Kenobi do you read?"
Holding it up to his face, he answered, "yes, I am here General."
"Get you and the Spartans back to the command ship quickly… we found something"
"Yes Master."
Then, he pressed another comm button seemingly changing channels. He waited for static to come in, "Cody? Get a platoon down here, we won't be able to stay for long."
All that was given was a "yes sir," from him like usual.
"Damn gators." said Doulgas.
Before anything starts, I would like to give a shout out again to Samuel Warshaw for helping me Bada reading this chapter. It's guys like him as I always say, that make this story possible. Thanks man, cheers!
Ah yea, I see this has been a bit of a prestigious chapter. It was probably the most ambitious too. Being almost ten thousand words, which is thirty pages, this was a night-wrecker. Not saying it wasn't fun to make/edit, but it just takes a bit. Although I LOVE WHERE the story is going which is a good thing.
Only announcement really is sort of simple. I'm gonna take this upcoming week off, probably just edit a few chapters, but that'll be it. So no posts until May, which isn't that big of a deal. I understand I am slow to getting posts out, but still, like I say, I am a perfectionist. So it is what it is. This just gives me time to let my fingers relax, and give me a brain break. Added, it also gives me more thoughts for future chapters. And my fingers ARE DEAD from this chapter lol 10k words is alot no matter if I had a month to do it lol.
Anywho, without further ado, the comments that everyone has been waiting for. The LEGENDARY, the ALMIGHTY first comment shoutout goes to… ReachDidItToEm !
Ah man, seriously? Not even a full 9 minutes after chapter 5 was released, amazing bro, cheers. Probably the fastest one I've had yet! :)
Guest — eh, too early to say anything dude, Tarkin is what… season 4? And I'm still in season one lol.
Guest — understandable. I mean Star Wars for how advanced it is, should be using nuclear weapons... and yet here we are. Lol idk things I notice…
osterreicher97 — indeed ;} …
TwinkieMain — well this will be an interesting way to explain. This is just my opinion, but I think it would be hard To assume something like this. Because you have to remember, Reach was one of the biggest invasions by the Covenant ever. The invasion size was 300 times that of the invasion on D-Day during WWII. Added to that, the morality reflected upon the UNSC was insane. I would be willing to argue, actually screw that it wouldn't even be fair for me to say. If halo actually existed, Reach couldn't even be compared to the morality Damage inflicted upon America during 9/11. I mean think about it, everyone remembers where they were in during 9/11. It was horrible.
I know, I know, It's a big move for me to compare something like this (halo lore), to something that actually happened. But going off just by that, it would be safe to say that Isabell would just assume that red team already knew about it since it was such a huge event. Although you could argue against it, but that's just my opinion.
zanzara — I mean with the Jedi and the Sangheili, being closely in combat capabilities, I think that just settled in this chapter. Everything else you said though I actually really liked and I did consider a little bit of it. And it's all just good thoughts to think about for future chapters, thanks for the ideas!
Psihopatul — Yeah thanks, I didn't realize after I posted chapter 5 last week, that the story was going a bit slow and I need to pick it up if I wanted to really cover the entire clone wars.
rvbwby — All right in my opinion, I think this question is probably one of the most 'needed answering questions' I've ever had across any story.
To be honest this is all opinionated but largely you to bring up a big point. And I do have a very good explanation. You have to realize, that the spirit of fire has not refueled in either supplies, men, (ESPECIALLY MEN) Or anything else in almost 20 years. I think The last time the Spirit of fire refueled, was right before professor Anders was taken. Even so it is safe to assume that a lot of their crew, was dead by the events of Halo Wars 2.
So even when the banished comes around, and by the end of halo wars two, it's really hard to guess how many men are actually still on the ship. I personally would say a couple thousand, but I could be wrong, it could be more, or it could be less.
Added, you have to consider what Alex said in chapter 5. She said that she had to "make a 15 mile walk to the other part of the ship." This I would assume that the ship tore apart in the atmosphere before it even crashed. So that doesn't even say how many actually died just on that alone. So even if you're being gracious, and you give the spirit of fire roughly 1000 men that still survived, it's hard to say. And I do understand that droids really aren't up to date with the combat capabilities compared to the clones. But you have to realize that a droid can still KILL. granted, this doesn't make the Marines completely defenseless, and vice a versa.
Honestly it is quite opinionated, but if say 500 men survived, that still is unbelievable. Just 500 men defending against an entire droid invasion?! That's insane as is. So I think it's safe to say that yes after a brutal fight, I think the droids would've won.
eclipse metastar — I really do appreciate your guises type of nitpicks. It keeps me in check to see if I'm actually… Giving each side a fair fight if you could say lol.
Anyway, your point is very similar to my previous comment which I think answers most of your question.
But when it comes to the Banished, I know it looks a little confusing to read but in the next 2 to 3 chapters, I think it will be all clear. I understand, how confusing it looks.
It's just kind of a big spoiler if I say anything, so I guess you're just gonna have to hold out, sorry dude. Thanks for the point out tho :)
Rook435 — Yeah Jorge is one of my favorite characters. So to write a story about him I think it's a dream come true. Yeah I wanted to add captain cutter originally, but I didn't see a decent spot for him, so leaving him to 'rest in peace' onboard the spirit of fire I think is fair. But it was a good notice though!
And yes for future reference, for anyone who actually reads the authors note, the Covenant WILL be involved in future chapters and WILL get involved with the Star Wars universe, I give you that.
PS before I end the A/N this is an update as of 5/4/21. In honor of May the Fourth.
I know, it has been a bit, and I know, you guys hate long authors notes, and honestly, I do too. I like them short and sweet. Anyway, between work and school, it had been hard to sit down and write. Expect chapter 7, on either May 17th. You guys have been so patient with me and I understand it has been almost a month, I am sorry. Between school and everything else, it has been hard and long. Again, sorry for the inconvenience.
As always, thanks for all of the comments. And I know I am probably going to get bombarded with comments with this chapter. But hey, I don't mind the constructive criticism, as long as you people are being absolutely rude. Which frankly you guys have not, which I absolutely love. You guys have been amazing as an audience and I would just like to say that. Thanks for all of your help and assistance with this story and I hope you guys will keep reading the story! And I apologize, I hate long A/N, next one will be short and sweet I hope.
As always, stay safe, stay healthy,
~NoXXiMillion