Hello again, everyone, and welcome back to my Halo - Star Wars crossover. My apologies for taking so long to rewrite each chapter. Not only was I dealing with things in life, I was also having difficulty finding good solutions to the problems you all pointed out.
Thankfully, I have those problems sorted out. Chapters 2 - 5 have been rewritten, so the story there should make much more sense now. Thank you very much for your feedback. I deeply appreciate it.
Also, don't forget to check out my other crossover: Halo: MechWarrior V2.0. Any feedback that I can get on that story would make a huge difference in the long run. Please give it a thorough read and review.
As always, leave a review and enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own the Halo or Star Wars franchises. They are the respective properties and trademarks of Microsoft Game Studios, 343 Industries, Bungie, 20th Century Fox, Lucasfilms, Disney Films, etc. Any material original to the franchises belong to their respective developers, producers and publishers. Any material not original to the franchises is of my own invention. I do not own any music listed in each chapter. Any music listed belongs to it's original composers and/or artists.
Kashyyyk
Kashyyyk Forests
5 ABY
The area that Weebacca told the others they could take shelter at was located in a denser part of the forest, a location where the Imperials hadn't gotten to yet, and it wasn't far from Kepitenochan. Here, the forest was denser and thicker, with brush on the ground making it difficult to move through. Weebacca, however, seemed to know a path through the thick underbrush, as the team was quickly moving along.
As they moved through the forest, Chief looked around the area, both eyes scanning the area for any hostile activity. So far, all his motion tracker had picked up were the various denizens of the forest moving around, from small, squirrel-like creatures, to other contacts that he wasn't able to see clearly. Either way, he knew that the forest was full of activity, and that he had to be on guard. Behind him, Zorak was doing the same, with the other Sangheili making sure no one got too close.
Eventually, they reached what looked like a small, makeshift settlement hidden in the forest. Wookies of all kinds were present here, from the elderly, to the young, all of whom were living inside of tents or makeshift buildings that had been recently constructed. Weebacca made some growling sounds, with Solo saying, "We're here. According to Weebacca, this is known as the 'Village of The Survivors.' They got set up here when Kepitenochan was attacked."
As he looked around, Chief felt a cold kind of fury inside of him as he looked at the Wookies, especially those that appeared to be children. Only a monster like the Covenant or Insurrection would do this to civilians, especially children, he thought to himself. Looking around, he asked, "Who's the leader?"
"Weebacca is," Solo replied. "Apparently, he got as many people out of Kepitenochan as he could before the Imperials came along. Still, it's clear these people can't stay here. If they do, the Empire will eventually find them."
Just as he said this, Chewbacca began to talk with Weebacca, with the two making gestures as they seemed to talk about something. "What are they saying," Chief asked.
"I know what they're saying," Solo replied. "Apparently, Chewie's got a plan for how we need to proceed. We're going to head back to Kepitenochan and look for survivors, while the others tell us what happened earlier. If all goes well, Chewie thinks we can rebuild the Government Tree once we establish a base at Kepitenochan."
When he heard this, Chief began to mull over the plan, assessing it from every angle. Establishing a base would allow them to conduct operations in a more organized manner than before, and it would provide a location for the construction of buildings. The only problem was that the Imperials were still quite strong here, and building a base would attract a lot of attention. Looking at Solo, he said, "I wouldn't advise that. The Imperials have a strong presence in the region still. We would be attracting unwanted attention."
"It's either that, or the Imperial's continue to run amok here," Solo remarked. "As for the Imperials, we'll get rid of them as we go along. I tend to think up solutions as we go along."
"That sounds quite foolish, Human," Zorak frowned.
"He does have a point," Kelly remarked. "It would allow us to coordinate our efforts more efficiently. Besides, the Imperial Remnant here didn't expect the New Republic and UNSC to send Spartans here, and we can capitalize on that."
"She is right, you know," Cortana added. "The Imperial Remnants didn't even know how to competently engage Spartans. If we play this right, we can cause a lot of damage and buy the Wookie Resistance here more time to prepare. It would also rally other Wookies to our cause."
When he heard that, Chief had to admit, Cortana was probably right. After a moment, he said, "Alright. We'll follow this plan, though I still do not think it is a good plan. Chewbacca, can you interview the survivors here?"
Chewbacca roared an affirmative, with Solo saying, Kashyyyk
Kashyyyk Forests
5 ABY"He's got it handled." With that, Chief and the others prepared to conduct another major assault, while Chewbacca and Solo talked with the others. Nearby, Zorak and the others continued to vigilantly watch the forest for any signs of Imperial activity.
It didn't take long for Solo and Chewbacca to get the job done, as Solo came back. "Anything," Chief asked.
"Yea," Solo nodded. "According to the survivors, the Trandoshans came to Kepitenochan about a few days before we got here. They began rounding everyone up and shipping them towards shuttles to take them offworld. Some of the Wookies managed to break free, though, but they're scattered around the forest. They think that if Chewie can rebuild the Government Tree, then that can serve as a rallying point for the escapees. We'll gain much needed resistance fighters, and the other Wookie settlements will be able to assist us."
"Then it's even more important that we assist Chewbacca and the others," Fred agreed. "The Imperials will get involved, that's a given, but we can push them back."
"Agreed," Chief nodded. Using his private COM channel, he said, "Linda, Fred, I need you two to provide long range fire support in the event Imperial forces get closer. Kelly, you and I will provide close range fire support, while assisting the Wookies and Solo in their mission. Understood?"
"Fully," the other Spartans replied.
Turning to Zorak, Chief was about to speak when the Sangheili Zealot said, "I and my fellow warriors will assist you, Human. Two of our specialists are experts in long range warfare, while my brother and I are master swordsmen."
"Good," Chief replied. "Everyone, move out. Head to Kepitenochan and find as many survivors as possible. Solo, Chewbacca, tell the civilians to stay put for now."
"You got it," Solo replied.
. . .
It wasn't long before they returned to Kepitenochan, with the fires having gone out by the time they had arrived. With the fires out, the scale of the devastation was there for all to see. Whole buildings had been burned to the ground, with charred and ashen wood longs sticking up out of the ground like rotten teeth. Searching the area for survivors wasn't difficult, as it was clear that no one had survived the blaze.
This left them with the task of building a base here at the ruins of Kepitenochan. As they needed a workforce, the civilians were encouraged to work with the Spartans and the other fighters to build the base. As they moved along, Chewbacca made some grunts, and snarls while motioning to the area where Kepitenochan used to be.
Solo, who understood what Chewbacca was saying, looked confused. "How is reconstructing a Wookie Tree Cluster going to help us signal Luke and Lando for help? Wouldn't it be easier to storm an Imperial communications center and do it like that?"
Chewbacca made a loud roaring sound in response. "OK, OK – I'll help with the building," Solo bristled, clearly caught off guard by Chewbacca's loud response. "Relax, will ya?" As soon as he said this, numerous Wookies that had stolen tools from their Imperial captors began moving out, moving through the forest towards a location that Chief and the others hadn't seen before.
When they got there, they found that the Wookies had been busy gathering building materials and supplies into a single area. All of it was arranged neatly on the ground, as though some giant had come through and laid them out for planning. It was obvious to Chief what they were going to be building. It's a monument of some kind, he deduced from looking at the materials. Turning to Chewbacca, he asked, "Do we have any forward observation posts in the area? We'll need to know if the Imperials are coming."
Chewbacca made some more grunts, growls and hums, with Solo translating nearby. "According to Chewie, he talked with Weebacca while they were interviewing the survivors. According to Weebacca, there are multiple watchtowers that are present throughout the area. He's managed to build up a network of scouts and guards with some of the Wookies that escaped from captivity, while capturing some much needed building supplies. If all goes well, we'll know if the Imperials are coming, and we'll be able to build the necessary buildings we need in order to get a sustainable operation up and running."
"Good," Chief nodded. "We'll need that for future operations here on this planet. How long will it take for these structures to be completed?"
"Probably a good six to eight hours," Solo estimated. "Fortunately, Wookies are incredibly strong, so it might not even take that long." With that, Chief and the others set up a watch rotation, so that the guerrilla force they had would be alerted in the even the Imperials decided to come looking for survivors.
For the next two hours, all was silent as the Wookies continued working on building the much needed facilities in order to conduct a long duration operation on the planet. True enough, Chief could already tell that the Wookies were moving quickly, with each one getting buildings built quickly, but thoroughly and carefully. Wood beams that would've taken an entire crane to lift were hoisted up into the air by Wookies working in teams.
Already, he could see why the Imperials had enslaved the Wookies. The Wookies are strong enough that they can move materials that would otherwise take vehicles and cranes to move, he surmised. That, combined with their low native technology, means that the Imperials were able to march in and take what they wanted. If they don't want their planet conquered again, they'll need an actual military garrison to defend the planet.
Just after the two hour mark, things began to take a turn. As they worked, Chief heard a loud, high pitched howling sound, like someone was using the hose attachment for a vacuum cleaner. Looking around, he immediately spotted the source of the noise. "TIE Fighter inbound," he shouted, alerting the others.
"The Imperials must be sending a scouting party," Solo shouted. "If that Imperial scumbag gets out of here, he'll alert the others to our pre-" A moment later, that problem was taken care of.
Before Solo could finish, a single missile streaked out of nowhere from the area, before it smashed into the engines propelling the TIE fighter. There was a loud WOMP as the missile detonated, shredding the internal mechanisms of the TIE Fighter and sending it barreling into the forest, where a loud crashing sound marked it's demise. "Whoa!," Solo shouted. "What was that?!"
"That would be me," Fred-104 spoke up. Climbing down from one of the watchtowers, he held a weapon that he had returned to the Falcon about a half hour ago to get: an M41 SPNKR Missile Launcher. "I had one of these in the cargo hold of the Falcon for this specific reason."
"What's that," Solo asked. "Looks like some kind of twin tubed rocket launcher."
"That's because it is a rocket launcher," Fred replied. "M41 SPNKR 102mm Missile Launcher. This is the M41A3 variant, which makes use of an upgraded missile and targeting system. I can destroy an enemy vehicle with a single shot from this thing."
"Really," Solo asked. When Fred nodded, he said, "Well, color me impressed. I wish we had some of those during the Battle of Hoth. Those AT-AT's wouldn't have stood a chance."
As the others returned to work, Chief walked over to Solo and asked, "How long has the New Republic been fighting the Imperials?"
"I don't really know," Solo replied, "but it's been for quite some time. As for that battle I mentioned, it was about a year after the Battle of Yavin 4, if I recall correctly. We were holed up on the planet of Hoth. If there was ever an iceball of a planet, it would be Hoth. We had to modify our gear for cold weather operations, and that was a pain in the neck.
"Anyways, the Imperials back then had discovered the base, so they sent their AT-AT's in order to crush the Rebellion and get troops into the base. Those things had armor plating that laughed at our blaster turrets and emplacements. The only way to destroy those things was to use Air Speeders to wrap towing cables around their legs. Once they were knocked over, destroying them was quite easy. If we had those M41A3's that your subordinate mentioned, taking out those AT-AT's would've been far easier." With that, Solo continued to help the Wookies build.
It wasn't long before some of the structures were fully completed. The first ones were living quarters for the Wookie survivors, with the buildings serving as a stopgap measure for the time being. The other ones were what appeared to be animal nurseries, which the Wookies used to raise animals for eating and other uses. So far, all was going well.
As the building continued on, Chief had Kelly perform some reconnaissance of the surrounding area, so that they could get an accurate idea of what was going on. Since she was the fastest, she was ideal for fast recon missions. As such, she had left the area once the TIE fighter had been destroyed, and was providing regular radio transmissions to the team.
According to her reconnaissance, the Imperials had a number of structures that were present in the region. Some were more slave camps, while others were watchtowers and buildings that the Trandoshan Slavers were using to conduct further operations on the planet. As such, Chief ordered squads of Wookies to head to those areas and take them out, while the Spartans remained at the base to continued guarding the place in the event that the Imperials attacked.
It wasn't long before they did, as Linda would indicate. "Enemy contacts," she reported. "Trandoshan slavers moving in from the east!"
"Neutralize them," Chief ordered. Keying his COM, he said, "Kelly, return to base ASAP. Imperial forces are moving on our position."
"Roger that," Kelly replied. As soon as she did, Chief heard the loud KRA-THOOM that was Linda's rifle, Nornfang, firing. He turned his head just in time to see a Trandoshan slaver being bisected by the powerful round the rifle fired. One half of the Trandoshan flew backwards, while the other half simply fell down. Blood and gore splattered the ground, painting a grizzly scene.
At the same time, Chief pulled the MA5D off of his back and began moving forwards, heading to where the slavers were coming from. Keying his COM again, he asked, "Kelly, where are the slavers coming from?"
"They're coming from a camp that's located to the east," Kelly replied. "I marked the area with a NAV point and told the Wookies where they're at. They've got the situation handled."
"Roger that," Chief replied as he took up position in one of the watchtowers to the east. "Monitor the situation as it develops. If the Wookies need reinforcements, let me know immediately, and I'll come assist."
"Affirmative, Chief," came the reply.
For the next four hours, the air was heavy with tension as the Wookies continued to work. Chief began to track the amount of time spent by looking at the sun's position periodically. By the time four hours had passed, the Sun had passed noon, and was starting to move down towards the west. He was about to head out of the watchtower when he heard triumphant roars coming from behind him.
Turning around, he spotted the reason why. A large, elaborate structure had been built in the middle of the remains of the village. Beautiful, exotic woods were blended perfectly with metal that had been reclaimed from parts of the older structures that had existed earlier. The baroque architecture reminded Chief of some of the older parts of Earth, where structures built centuries ago, such as the Houses of Parliament in London, had withstood the test of time.
Solo, while happy to see that the structure was finally built, said, "So, your Government Tree is restored. Now, let's hope that we can keep it defended from the Trandoshans and the Empire." Chewbacca, who was nearby, grunted in agreement.
"Agreed," Chief replied. There was one thing that he knew now. They had entered the longest part of this operation. It would probably take months for them to recruit as many people as possible for this operation. All we have to do now is hold out, he thought.
. . .
At roughly the same time, onboard the UNSC Infinity, Captain Lasky and the others were working out who was going to go assist the New Republic in another one of their projects, after getting some much needed sleep. Given that they were in a brand new galaxy now, with the scientists working on getting a way back home, they were having to assist the New Republic. Right now, they were talking with Admiral Nantz on how they could best assist the New Republic.
And it was turning out to be something productive. "We're already getting some ships together to service your warship," Nantz informed Lasky. "If you're going to be here long term, however, we're going to need to capture a shipyard from the Empire."
"That's not my primary concern," Lasky replied. "We can take a shipyard. The problem, however, is manufacturing the needed tools to repair and maintain UNSC equipment, and that's going to take some time." What he didn't tell Nantz was that the Infinity had an internal fabricator that could make just about anything the UNSC needed for the Infinity. The only problem was that it would take some time, and time was something that was in short supply.
"I see what you mean," Nantz nodded. "Your tech, and our tech, is so different that it's not compatible. Spast! That does complicate things greatly." Pacing around, he said, "Did your scientists find a way to get back home yet?"
"Not yet, but they're hard at work on the problem," Lasky replied. Engineer MacAllister recently informed me that he should have a solution soon. He's pulling quite a few double shifts in order to get is a way back home."
"I heard about him," Nantz replied. "He's supposed to be some kind of genius when it comes to your method of FTL flight, yes?"
"He is," Lasky replied. "If there's someone that'll help us find a way home, it's him. Since we're helping your forces out on Kashyyyk, maybe there's something else we can do to help you."
For a moment, Nantz was silent as he considered Lasky's words, then he said, "There is something that you could help us out with. Normally, I wouldn't trust this with outsiders, but you've helped us defeat the Eriadu Authority's leadership, which as resulted in the beginning of it's fracturing; plus we're on a secure channel, so no Imperial Intelligence spies can listen in on our conversation. Lasky, have you heard of Project Starhawk?"
"No," Lasky replied. "I take it that it's related to warships, if the name is anything to go by."
"An astute observation," Nantz nodded. "Project Starhawk is one of our most ambitious warship projects. We're effectively building a warship that's designed to destroy an enemy target using a heavily modified tractor beam. It's powerful enough that it can tear off massive chunks of a ship's superstructure with ease."
"I'm not familiar with the technology behind a tractor beam, but I am familiar with the concept. Using gravitons as a weapon is, to be honest, an interesting idea. So, who's the man in charge of the project?"
"One Captain Javes. He's a former Imperial that defected to our side shortly after the destruction of Alderaan by the Death Star. Helped save a lot of refugees from the Imperials and has quickly ascended the ranks since then. He's a brilliant tactician and a very intelligent man. If you could lend him some Spartans as a gesture of trust, then we might be able to keep the project hidden from the Imperial Remnants long enough to get the ship completed."
As Nantz finished speaking, Lasky began to pace around the Bridge, deep in thought as he considered Nantz's request. He's trying to assess the capabilities and training that UNSC fighter pilots are given, he thought. He's a clever man, I can give him that much. Still, given our current situation, we don't really have that much of a choice.
After a moment, he said, "Alright, Admiral Nantz, I'll send a fireteam as soon as I can to assist in Project Starhawk. I'll also send one of our Strident frigates to assist."
"Thank you," Nantz replied. "We're short of hands and we've got too many assignments for those hands to do. Having some of your people help is a considerable relief. You have my gratitude, Captain Lasky."
"You're welcome," Lasky replied.
As the COM channel cut out, Roland said, "Are you certain this is a good idea, Lasky? I know that they're our allies, but the more we help them out, the more they learn about us. What if they become the enemy at some point?"
"I know how you feel, Roland," Lasky replied. "We really don't have a choice, though, and the more we help them, the more they'll see that the UNSC, and UEG by extension, are not a force to be reckoned with. They might have superior numbers, but we've got superior training and technology to work with. Still, given your concerns, I want you to draw up contingency plans on what to do should the New Republic decide to make us the enemy."
"Got it," Roland replied. "That takes a weight off of my shoulders."
As Roland got to work on creating worst-case-scenario contingencies, Lasky began looking through possible fireteams that he could send along with the frigate to assist in Project Starhawk. The only problem was that none of the Fireteams he had in mind were suitable for the task at hand. It looks like we'll need to form a new fireteam, he thought. One that has experience in naval combat, as well as ground warfare as well.
A moment later, he said, "Roland, look through our crew dossiers, specifically the Spartan IV's. We're going to have to form a new Fireteam in order to help out. Designate this new team as Fireteam Novus. Until it's formed, however, we're going to send Fire Team Osiris to assist. They recently retrained for the F-41E if I recall correctly, so they'll be the ones going. Hopefully, by the time Project Starhawk is finished, Fire Team Novus will be ready to go."
"Got it," Roland replied. "It's gonna take time. I'll have a suitable team ready to go within three days."
"Good to hear." With that, both men began to go hard at work on the problem. They were getting somewhere now. It was only a matter of time before the UNSC made a massive impression on this new galaxy.