The Halo Effect: War and Civilization

by free man writer

A crossover years in the works that is of gargantuan proportions in terms of scope. Spanning multiple decades with three franchises, ensemble cast with multiple story arcs that will take you on a very long journey. Halo/Mass Effect/Star Wars Mega Crossover. Co-written and created with BulletStormX. Buckle up folks, you're in for a long one. Available on Archive Of Our Own.

10. Innocence Lost

Sup ya'll, back with this one again, know it's been a while but hey, this one ain't abandoned.

Let's cut right to the chase.

Rate Read and Review and as Always Have Nice Day.

The Halo Effect War and Civilization Chapter 10: Innocence Lost

2528/2172

February 13th

"Admiral, the enemy ships are angling themselves towards our direction." a Human Lieutenant said from his post within the bridge of the lead ship of this UNSC fleet.

Standing before the window that allowed for this Admiral to look upon said enemy ships turning themselves in his fleet's direction. The Naval officer's eyes narrowed as he gauged at the oncoming force.

There were about thirty Covenant ships in total.

Five SDV-Class heavy Corvettes, Two Lucrehulk battleships, three CPV-Class heavy destroyers, upwards of eighteen CRS-Class light cruisers and leading the Covenant Fleet were two CAS-Class Assault Carriers.

Admiral Raddus of the UNSC had his work cut out for him.

This was a formidable Covenant fleet as they were facing off against one of the absolute strongest ships the Covenant had at their disposal.

For the past three years since the start of the war, the UNSC quickly learned how much of an advantage the Covenant had over them during naval engagements. Shielding, far more accurate slip-space capabilities and plasma that can tear through half their ships like a hot knife to butter.

However, whilst they had the distinction of overwhelming raw power, there were some key advantages that the UNSC held in regards to the Covenant.

First and foremost were the AI they had at their disposal which allowed for calculations and tactics to be made to the best possible decimal whenever they ran the numbers through their artificial heads. That and they can keep a majority of ship systems running which allows for the personnel of fleets to focus on the battle at hand without needing to fret over the functions of their ships.

Then they had their constantly upgraded Gauss and MAC Cannons that each ship is retrofitted with that can usually punch through an unshielded Covenant ship.

But above all else, one of the most defining features that the UNSC has that seemingly outclasses their Covenant counterparts were the UNSC's Starfighters.

Whilst the Covenant have a handful of ships that can be considered starfighters like their Banshees and Geonosian fighters, the UNSC has developed upwards of a dozen or so specified Starfighters with more in development.

Arc-Wings, A-wings, D-Wings, Pelicans, X-Wings, Y-Wings and the recently introduced V-19 Torrent Starfighters being the latest in the line of the UNSC Starfighter program: Alphabet Soup.

Many had tried calling it the W, or M or even V wing but for some reason, no name could stick so V-19 or Torrent Starfighter worked well enough.

Semantics aside, Raddus was going into this battle with upwards of nearly seven Hundred Starfighters to engage the Covenant forces.

The shipyards of Corellia, Kuat, Fondor, Anaxes, Mon Cala, Bestine IV, Bilbringi system, and Byss were working around the clock to produce as many starships and starfighters for the UNSC. Starfighters in particular had been getting a massive overhaul in numbers, ships being produced in the thousands on a weekly basis.

Granted, there were dozens of other planets that have large shipyards but the aforementioned eight were dedicated solely to the construction of starships and fighters.

So why this many starfighters?

Raddus looked over to his right and gazed upon the three UNSC Orion-Class Assault Carriers being surrounded by a dozen Stalwart-Class and MC30c Light Frigates.

He then turned to his left and gazed upon two more Orion-Class carriers and one Epoch-Class Heavy Carrier named Hammerborn.

Complementing the rest Raddus' fleet were several more other cruisers, mainly the MC80 Liberty Type Star Cruiser and the Marathon-Class Heavy Cruiser.

The rest of the fleet was made up of smaller destroyers and frigates and surrounding them and flying in between the large starship were the fully deployed starfighters ships all pointed directly at the Covenant fleet.

He had ordered that the fleet were to be segmented off into groups of twenty three attack packs and since he was the head of this fleet, he was the twenty fourth ship of attack group alpha.

Leading the UNSC Third Fleet aboard his Mon Cala flagship, the UNSC MC Profundity, it was a beautiful and sleek ship that emanated efficiency and strength.

A modified MC75 Star Cruiser that boasts a size of around 1.7 kilometers, this starship was one of the most powerful ships the Mon Cala had developed.

Holding three separate hangars, multiple railguns, gauss cannons, MK XV breakwater coil guns, a point defense missile system, Ion cannons and an experimental new type of Mac Cannon as its main weapon.

It was a dual 56A2F9 heavy Gauss Mac Cannon.

One of the strongest Mac's the UNSC had at its disposal aside from the ones found on the Punic class Supercarriers and Orbital Defense Platforms, these had been retrofitted to better fit into some of the smaller ships of the UNSC fleet.

And Raddus was ready to test just how effective this new MAC cannon was.

Running multiple scenarios in his head, he was well aware of the numerical advantage he currently held but he was no fool.

While he had enjoyed more victories against the Covenant in naval engagements than most in the UNSC, that didn't mean he was foolish enough to ignore his losses.

The Covenant held the power advantage for the most part and usually a size advantage as well.

The ratio in which ship to ship combat would be considered equal between both sides usually varied. But overall, the general ratio was either a 7:3 or 6:4.

And that was when the UNSC brought in some of their big guns like their supercarriers or the Viscount Cruiser.

"Attention all hands, you know your targets and you know the plan." Raddus spoke aloud, communicating to the entire fleet. "On my mark, engage the Covenant Fleet. All Squadrons Leaders report in."

"Admiral Raddus, this is Blue Leader Standing by."

"Shadow Leader standing by."

"Red Leader standing by."

"Green Leader standing by."

Several more squadron leaders all chimed in and all were accounted for.

Each starship had their engines and weapons all set and ready to their highest function.

The Profundity's AI, a Mon Cala wearing a regal outfit, spoke up.

"Everyone is accounted for, Admiral Raddus, waiting on your command."

Raddus steeled himself before nodding.

"Attack."

Instantly, all three battle groups charged forward onto the Covenant fleet.

Each starship unleashed a volley of gauss, Archer missiles, torpedoes and an assortment of other ordnance coupled with MAC and Railgun rounds.

Each battle group was assigned a number of designated Covenant ships to engage, one where each group were able to maximize everything they had that could overwhelm the shielding of the enemy ships.

What Raddus and many other tactically astute UNSC Naval officers had learned of is that while the Covenant had greater firepower on their side, the means in which they could dish out said firepower was rather limited.

Each Covenant ship has an effective range that covers multiple angles in which they can target the UNSC ships.

One might say they had all sides covered.

However, Gial Ackbar was the first to notice that the Covenant had some key distinct weak points in their ship designs. For starters, a majority of their underbelly had only turrets in terms of defense or rapid deployment of ships and highly concentrated plasma beams. However, that also meant a majority of the bottom portion of Covenant ships were greatly exposed to strafing runs by starfighters or direct assault from starships.

There was also the advent of their engines being relatively undefended. Easy pickings for Y-wing and D-wing bombings.

From the bridge of his ship, Raddus continued to observe the ensuing battle, watching as the five Orion-Class assault carriers and Lone Epoch heavy carrier converge on one of the two CAS Assault carriers.

Dozens of starfighters were firing all they had on this Assault carrier with small explosions going off on the ship with some being fighters that got shot down.

Raddus felt his ship shudder as the experimental Gauss MAC cannon was fired at a CPV-Destroyer. The round struck the broadside of the ship and tore through it.

A large purplish-red explosion was seen engulfing the destroyer before the ship itself was… destroyed.

Raddus nodded with a satisfied look, gazing over and feeling his lip curl in anger at the sight of two of his frigates being blown to pieces.

Yet the attack on the Covenant fleet held firm as the two frigates were quickly replaced by several others to fill in for the assault.

Raddus looked over that attack on the fleet and saw that thus far, seven of their ships had been destroyed.

However, the Covenant have already lost twelve with three more well on their way.

His divisional plan was working well enough.

As an Admiral and student of military history, growing up, Raddus was exposed to and educated on the great military leaders of all four species under the UNSC.

From the great Mon Cala Admiral Kroh Gudaal that innovated the Mon Cala naval tactics that allowed for rapid deployment to the Wookie chieftain Trror who led his tribe to establish the capital city of Kachirho of Kashyyyk.

But one military leader in particular stood out for him for his role in human military tactics that imitated and emulated to this very day.

A certain Second Lieutenant who rose to prominence around seven hundred years ago and fundamentally changed how humanity conducted their armies and his tactics are utilized, emulated and imitated to this very day.

Napoleon Bonaparte was truly a man ahead of his time and one of Raddus' personal favorites to read up on in his spare time.

His tactics of dividing up his army into separate corps was something he had always found ingenious and the versatility of how he dictated his men led to a slew of victories that are spoken to this day.

Raddus was utilizing his own variant in the division of an army in this very battle.

He knew that the Covenant ships outclassed him in power but the numbers and maneuverability would be their downfall.

When first being notified of this invading fleet, Raddus was quick to note their formation and how the CAS Carriers were leading from above and below the fleet.

A two pronged assault and defensive measure.

Impressive move to say the least.

But Raddus had seen this before.

Three years ago, in the opening stages of the war at the Battle of Alpha Corvi II.

So now, having familiarized himself with this formation, Raddus figured the focus on breaking down one Carrier and focusing on its flanks was the best means in which to take down this fleet.

*VRRRRRRRBOOOOOM*

And with the destruction of the sixteenth Covenant vessel, victory was well on its way.

Still, he had already lost eleven ships in this battle, one of them being an Orion Assault Carrier.

Regardless, the tide was in their favor.

"This is Admiral Raddus, press the attack." Raddus called out. "Blue, Green and shadow Squadrons, piercing swarm formation and target that Carriers engines."

"Copy Admiral." Came Blue Leaders' response. "All fighters on me."

Raddus watched as four dozen starfighters zoomed past his ship and made a beeline towards one of the heavily damaged CAS carriers.

The lead ship was an Arc-Wing with blue accents and gold trimmings on the edge, signifying Blue leader leading the charge.

The large collection of starfighters began angling either upwards or downwards, almost like it formed a web of sorts. The Starfighters went in a variety of directions yet each one was an intentional divergence as they all curved their flight path right towards the damaged areas of the carrier.

A slew of bullets, Ion torpedoes, missiles and Gauss powered shots barraged the carrier and moments later, the remaining UNSC carriers and heavy cruisers capitalized on the weakened state of the Covenant capital ship.

Multiple MAC rounds bombarded the CAS carrier from multiple sides, each projectile landing critical blows against the Covenant ship.

Moments later, a triple shot from an Orion Carrier, Marathon Cruiser and the Profundity decimated and eliminated the Carrier.

"Good shooting." A UNSC Captain aboard the Epoch Carrier boasted from his bridge.

"Keep up the attack." Raddus said. "Pincer formation now. Close in and hit them from all sides."

It was a cascade of explosions, Gauss and MAC rounds, ion torpedoes, archer missiles, Railgun shots and starfighter strafing that slowly whittled down the Covenant fleet. Several more UNSC ships perished in the attack but they pressed on, regardless of the losses.

This went on until at long last, the Profundity had the privilege of delivering the killing blow to the last ship that destroyed the Covenant fleet.

Raddus stepped back and sat into the center seat of the bridge and exhaled a long sigh of relief, grateful to see the battles end and to have been able to come out on top.

"Riptide." Raddus spoke up and in an instant, a small hologram of the Profundity's AI appeared.

"Yes Admiral Raddus?" Riptide said calmly.

"Losses." Raddus said slowly.

"We lost twenty two starships in total." The AI informed the Admiral who slumped slightly in his seat. "228 starfighters were also lost."

The Mon Cala Admiral slumped slightly in his seat as the scale of the loss weighed heavily upon Raddus' mind.

He had lost twenty two starships, some of which were cruisers and one assault carrier on top of a few hundred fighter pilots. Yes, the smaller and stronger force of the Covenant had been eradicated but at the loss of nearly a third of his own forces.

Still… they had won.

Decisively.

"Send word back to HIGHCOM." Raddus spoke aloud.

The battle for the XI Boötis A system was theirs.

May 19th

UNSC MC80 Command Cruiser Typhoon

A lone human male was currently seated at a small bench within a circular room within the Mon Calamari designed ship.

All around him were other humans, Wookies and Mon Cala each one fitted within similar armor save for a few key differences. Aside from the obvious variations to better suit the species, the armor was all relatively matching with only color markings and specific armor pieces in better distinguishing who belonged to what unit.

Aside from the matching armor sets, there was a consistent number plastered on some piece of the armor each soldier wore.

19th.

On this lone human's shoulder pad was where one could find this number.

The man had finished strapping in his armor and quickly grabbed his helmet with the yellow accent mark over it.

"Tarkov."

The young man turned to a Mon Cala tossing him his SMG which he caught out of the air and gave a nod of thanks to his comrade.

He grabbed some more ammo cartridges and placed them into his pack whilst going to join the rest of his Battalion.

Moments later, an announcement was heard over the intercoms of the ship.

"19th Battalion to your stations. Prepare for drop."

"You heard the Captain, move, move!" an older, dark skinned human shouted out and slipped on his helmet with many more doing the same as they began running towards the designated deployment bay.

Tarkov slid his helmet over his head with his helmet depolarized for the time being.

Entering into his designated room, a hundred other soldiers occupied this circular room with all of them entering into their drop pods.

Once all one hundred men and women were in their drop pods, the hatches all closed on them and a depressurizing sound was heard. The room then jolted and the soldiers felt the entire area shift about whilst the pods jostled about.

From Tarkov's perspective, he watched as the other pods were slowly roasted downward and they were soon greeted to the sight of a Naval engagement between a dozen UNSC ships and three Covenant Destroyers.

Down below was the planet that was currently contested between the two factions: the planet of Hat Yai.

Tarkov's eyes wandered over to the Typhoon he was being deployed from, watching as the bulbous "bumps" from the ship detached itself and flew over to specific areas for the deployment of the rest of the 19th Battalion.

It was one the ingenious designs of ships made by the Mon Calamari that had been implemented into all ships of the UNSC in one way shape or form.

When the Wookiees and Humanity had first met the Mon Cala, many commented on the strange bulbous lumps and bumps on their ships that seemed to decorate practically all of them. Some assumed it to be a design choice of some kind due to the aquatic nature of the Mon Cala and how their species evolved from the seas.

It wasn't until later did they learn that these lumps and bumps were actually areas that can be made into crew quarters, maintenance facilities and even act as detachable escape/transport/life pods.

Since joining the UNSC, this design has been slowly implemented into other UNSC ships where they too had this feature of detachable ship pods for ground deployments of escape pods. They can even fly themselves over to other UNSC ships and attach themselves to the vessel to compliment the crew or serve as a means of a boarding/raiding party against Covenant ships.

But one of the most ingenious new methods that were implemented into the UNSC navy was the use of the detachable pods during Orbital Drop Shock trooper deployment.

Whilst the starships would engage themselves against the Covenant fleets, these separate pieces would detach themselves and position themselves over strategic locations for ODST deployment. Rather than being reigned down to one specific location from one ship, they can now be sent out in waves or into scattered areas for more mobile units and an assortment of other uses.

Such as now.

Tarkov gazed forward where he saw dozens upon dozens of more pods from multiple other ships be positioned over Hat Yai, each containing at least a hundred or more ODST's.

The ODST's were considered amongst the most elite of the UNSC, composed of some of the very best humans and Wookiees with the occasional Mon Cala being amongst them.

They were known as the most tenacious, vicious, craziest and suicidal soldiers in the UNSC and the absolute best.

And they were about to test their mettle against the Covenant in full.

There had been other engagements against the Covenant before in these past few years but this was to be the first ground engagement wherein it was solely made of ODST's.

Upwards of nearly seven thousand ODST's were to be sent down to the planet of Hat Yai and take out a designated area controlled by the Covenant.

Their target?

A Covenant base that served as a staging ground for the invaders who intended on wiping out the planet's population.

The UNSC will not let that happen.

Tarkov watched as the first set of ODST's were launched and that was all the incentive needed as the hovering capsules containing the suicidal soldiers began sending them down to the planet below. The young ODST tightened up and waited for the beeping in his pod to subside before he too was set hurtling towards the planet's surface.

On his way down, he watched as starfighters were engaged in intense dogfighting with one another, a small feeling of satisfaction at watching the UNSC beat back the Covenants fighters.

As he drew closer to the Hat Yai's surface, Tarkov momentarily closed his eyes and readied himself for what essentially be his very first battle.

In an instant, he felt as though he were back in basic training with the rest of his squad.

His drill instructor screaming at him in Hungarian to drop and give him as many as he could until he dropped. Crawling through thick mud whilst live rounds were being shot at him.

Practicing a multitude of mock jumps to accustom his body to the intense pressure of landing.

He pictured himself atop one of the many walls he had jumped from and just before he hit the training ground, Tarkov opened his eyes at the last second just as his drop pods crashed into Hat Yai's surface.

His helmet became polarized and the hatch door burst open with him immediately running out to fire his weapon.

It was complete and utter chaos all around him as explosions, plasma fire and gunfire were going off in every direction.

He was around his squad, that much he was certain of.

"MOVE UP THE MIDDLE!"

Tarkov began sprinting, firing his SMG at several Grunts and Jackals, running by two ODST's pulling their injured comrade away into cover.

Starfighters zipped past above them to engage the Covenant forces up ahead that would only serve to slow them down.

He was breathing heavily but Tarkov pressed on.

A Wookiee next to him got a plasma grenade stuck to him and it dived down into a crater to make sure the explosion wouldn't get any other ODST.

Tarkov kept running, slightly behind a dozen other ODST's ahead of him when he was promptly smacked aside by a large muscular arm.

He flew through the air and landed on his back with his helmet flying off of him.

The panicked soldier looked up to see an armored Brute standing over him, roaring down as it stomped forward with the intention of finishing the ODST off.

Tarkov didn't miss a beat as he grabbed his SMG and began firing not at the Brute, but at what was flying down towards it.

The Brute roared once more and was about to kill him when an explosion of a Banshee behind it sent a large chunk right at the Brute's back.

It fell down to the ground in an instant and lay there, unmoving and dead.

Tarkov exhaled heavily, feeling pain on his face as he had received two large gashes.

One on his right cheek below his eye and one below his lip.

A moment later, a Mon Cala ran by him and reached out his hand for him to grab which he accepted and quickly placed his helmet back on and ran forward.

There was still a mission to complete.

Slamming in a full clip into his SMG, Tarkov sprinted forward, multiple ODST's by his side as they all made a beeline for the Covenant base that they needed to destroy.

Explosions went off around him yet he pressed on, momentarily going into a melee engagement as he pulled out his knife and jammed it through the head of a grunt.

He pulled his knife as he kept running, shouts and gunfire heard all around him.

"Target sighted!" Shouted one of the ODST's at the head.

"No shit!"

"Just get the damn charges ready."

Tarkov ran forward, gunning down several more Grunts and some Jackals as well.

Off in the corner of his eyes, he saw two Wookiees with a Mon Cala tackling a Brute down with a human jumping over them and jamming a grenade into the bestial aliens mouth.

A feeling of vicious satisfaction washed over him momentarily on seeing such gruesome actions but he quickly squashed that feeling and pressed onward.

Jumping over a Brute corpse, Tarkov joined a large contingent of ODST's who were making a dash for the base. As they ran forward, a quick run of Y-wing bombers flew past them and unloaded their payload that softened up the defenses of the base.

One flank in particular got devastated with many of the Covenant stationed there being engulfed in flames and shrapnel.

A Wookiee was roaring aloud, making a few gestures in that direction.

"We have our window right here! Go, go, go!"

It was practically a bull rush of ODST's, running and gunning at everything in their path as they began swarming the base.

Losses began to mount upon this rush yet those that remained alive just pressed on.

Tarkov was with his unit, having discarded his SMG by this point and got his hands on a DMR.

He was in the middle of reloading when he, like all the other ODST's, got the notification to begin evacuating the area.

And like that, it was a scramble to get as far away from the Covenant base as possible. Everyone was simply running away from the remaining Covenant forces, dropping grenades in their wake to disorient and slow down the enemy until they got clear of the base.

Tarkov was breathing heavily when once again, he felt the wind get knocked out of him.

Only this time he was sent flying far further than before and he landed hard on the ground. Grunting to himself, Tarkov forced himself up to his feet and looked behind him to see the Covenant base was now nothing more than a smoldering pile of rubble. Bodies littered the area now with many of the ODST's now cheering and roaring in victory.

Tarkov simply removed his helmet, gazing out at the destroyed Covenant base.

All around him were ODST's celebrating while he just sagged where he stood and closed his eyes to catch his breath.

When Tarkov opened them once more, it was dark out now with a few large bonfires being set up around the remaining ODST's that survived today's battle.

He stood with the surviving four thousand as they all gazed out at the fallen three thousand brothers and sisters that had been buried here on this battlefield.

Every mound either had the entire helmet or a piece of the armor worn by the fallen that was buried beneath the memento that represented those that had perished in the battle.

The surviving ODST's simply stood there in silence, helmets off and eyes upon the thousands of graves.

The UNSC had successfully repelled the Covenant forces.

But as it always was in a war, at great cost.

Regardless, the day was theirs. The battle was theirs.

Now they prayed and hoped that the war would be theirs in the end.

-Undisclosed date 2528/2172-

-Undisclosed location-

-UNSC outer colony-

The colony world was relatively small for the most part.

The key defining feature of it was the jungles scattered across its surface with a mountain range here and there.

On the planet's surface, deep within one of its many jungles was a single UNSC base or more so that it was a base that belonged to the Office of Naval Intelligence.

Within said base, in one of the many rooms it contained sat a middle aged man overlooking a series of files that had far more blank ink then the usual restrictive documents.

Then again, working for ONI means by default, every single file has blank ink.

Luckily enough, this particular individual had enough clearance where he was able to have full access to the secrets beholden to the files he possessed.

The man was reading over the contents, snorting derisively upon flipping over to the picture of a young woman around his age, if not slightly younger.

While he disregarded who she was overall, he was hard pressed to deny the intrigue he held towards the work she has done in these last few years.

The Spartan program had been a dazzling success overall but when one looks at their numbers…

It just wasn't enough to sustain the moment the UNSC had against the Covenant even after decisive victories.

That's how it had been these past three years. Trading victories and defeats back and forth in nearly every engagement the UNSC had with the Covenant.

The Spartan-II's couldn't even claim to have been able to beat the Covenant at every turn.

That sole privilege went directly to one Admiral Cole who had never lost a single battle against the Covenant. Shocking but ultimately a strong sense of pride one can get from Cole as a lone human with no exceptional physical augmentations or training being able to hold the distinguishable achievement of being undefeated in this war.

For now at least.

But right now, Colonel James Ackerson wasn't here to think on the matter of Admirals and ships.

He had gotten these files on what has been officially dubbed the Spartan-II program and was mulling over them for a number of days now.

Ackerson begrudgingly admitted that these Spartan-II's were fucking impressive to say the least.

The feats and accomplishments they have been able to pull off has been nothing short of astounding and miraculous.

But there is just not enough of them.

Fifty five augmented soldiers are not enough to turn the tide of a war.

If they are to survive and win this war, the UNSC will need to pull out all the stops from all their branches.

The Navy, the Marines, the Army, air force, starships, starfighters, guns, tanks, everything was needed to go above and beyond in order for them to win the war.

And the Spartans will undoubtedly play a key role in keeping the Covenant back and eventually drive them back.

So more are goin to be needed.

"Yovel." Ackerson spoke up and instantly, a Mon Calamari AI appeared on the Colonel's desk. It was garbed in clothes reminiscent of a Queens guard from Earth's old country of Great Britain though more in line with the Mon Cala appearance, if that makes sense.

Who knew fashion sense with other aliens would be so similar.

"Yes Colonel?" The Mon Cala AI asked.

"Record everything here and forward it all to ONI high command." Ackerson ordered, getting up out of his seat and making for the exit. "And prep my ship for departure."

"Yes sir."

2529/2173

The war goes well into its fourth year, escalation on multiple fronts.

UNSC suffers further losses with the loss of three human colonies, two Mon Cala, two Wookiees and one joint colony world.

Spartan-II Grey Team, deep in deployment behind enemy lines sends word back of a Covenant system of what appears to be shipyards close to several UNSC controlled systems. Two planets in particular dedicated to the construction of warships.

Catching wind of this, ONI sends in a Prowler to deliver several nuclear ordnance bombs in the form of NOVA bombs.

Grey Team deploys the NOVA bombs on the shipyard planets and several of the other occupied worlds and completely annihilate the Covenant presence within the system, rendering a strategic victory for the UNSC.

No casualties on their side and the first set of planets that they destroyed that belonged to the Covenant.

The Covenant hierarchy are in an uproar but must refrain themselves momentarily to regroup from such a crushing and sudden defeat.

UNSC preps for immediate counter attacks from the Covenant in light of such stunning victories.

June 1st

Reach

The recently promoted Admiral Dodonna stood within a large hangar bay on an elevated platform in a crisp military uniform, overseeing the construction of a Valiant-class super heavy cruiser.

This was the one of ten brand new heavy cruisers to be commissioned on the planet of Reach and that was just on this planet.

The UNSC colonies based solely around ship building were in a state of constant overtime with new hires being brought in almost daily since the start of this war.

By this point, they were completely and utterly mobilized.

Conscripts and volunteers had skyrocketed across various systems. Any and all who turned of legal age signed up for the UNSC almost as soon as they were able to.

Production of armor, tanks, warthogs and their variants, ships, guns, equipment, everything was being made at a near constant by this point.

Total war essentially though not really a surprise.

A conglomerate of aliens wish to wipe out the UNSC off the face of the galaxy.

So really it was an all hands on deck for the four species that made up this intergalactic community.

The lone Admiral stood there, watching over the construction when-

"Donnie!"

Jan rolled his eyes good naturedly, a small smirk forming as he turned to see a familiar friend of his sprinting up the steps and running towards him.

He was clearly excited and eager to see him.

And to Dodonna it meant that his old friend was here to see him with an idea in mind.

"Alright Remmy, what crazy new ship idea is it this time?" The Admiral asked straight away, making Rem Mirro falter in his step.

"Ah come on Donnie, why can't you think I'm here to say hi?" The eccentric Mon Calamari whined aloud.

"Because I've known you enough that when you come running, you got somethin' to show me."

Rem simply groaned aloud dramatically, arching his entire back with his arms dangling behind him.

Dodonna openly laughed, shaking his head at his close friends antics.

Mirro snapped back into a normal posture and held out a datapad.

"Well since there's no point in dragging it out, might as well show ya my new ideas." Rem spoke drably, eliciting more laughter out of his human friend. "Come on, Donnie, at least let me surprise you. Or you can pretend to at least."

"Yeah, yeah." Dodonna said in joking dismissiveness, patting Rem's shoulder whilst taking the datapad out of his hands.

Holding up the datapad to look over, Jan found himself blinking in surprise at Rem's latest project.

"What happened to alphabet soup?" Dodonna asked.

"Ah, right." Rem swiped his hand across the datapad to display the litany of future starfighters he was already developing before going back to the first screen. "Still workin' on them but got a couple of grander projects in mind."

"Clearly." Dodonna murmured, an impressed look coming over his face. "When'd you whip this up?"

"Two years ago." Rem said straight away. "Soon as the war began, I started thinking of other ships to design that could better counter the Covenants' own. When it comes to naval engagements, other than our cruisers and carriers, the only ships that really have done consistent damage are our fighters."

"So you're making more for more specialized roles." Dodonna remarked, getting Rem to nod.

"But we can also use more variety for our starships as well." Mirro said, now beginning to bounce slightly on the spot. "Especially if we can crank out a few new carriers to help in that department."

Jan hummed aloud, frowning slightly in thought.

"I don't know Rem." Dodonna said, making a face of uncertainty. "Seems like a bit of a tall order. I get the point of it but-"

"I understand your reservations." Rem said placatingly. "But when have I ever let you down?"

"Three times." Jan said flatly. "You-"

"Donnie~" Rem sounded like a petulant child. "I meant-"

The Mon Cala was cut off by Dodonna chuckling loudly, shaking his head with mirthful amusement.

"You're never going to let me live those days down, are you?" Rem pouted, arms crossed in a huff.

"No, it's too funny to let go." Jan admitted freely, looking back down at the datapad. "So these carriers… you think they'll help us out?"

"Every ship does in the end but confident in these." Rem assured him. "Already have the two shipyard colonies in mind. Kuat and Anaxes ideal locations due to shipyard rings specializing in larger starships."

"Was about to suggest those actually." Dodonna muttered. "So how do you want the presentation to go this time?"

Rem opened his mouth to answer when Jan jabbed a slight finger at him.

"No confetti."

The eccentric ship designer immediately deflated.

"Ah come on, Donnie."

"No. That's final." Jan said, walking away with his friend following after him. "Streamers is the best I can promise."

"UGH~" Rem bemoaned aloud. "Fine. I'll work with what I can get."

2530/2174 CE

January 9th

Eridanus II has fallen.

Glassed beyond repair with a majority of its population dead and buried beneath the glassy surface.

Within a cargo transport filled with fleeing civilians stood a lone boy who was no older than six staring out at the burning planet.

His gaze was blank and appearance was smudged and dirty. There were no tears, no signs of distress, nothing that revealed just what was going through the boy's mind.

To the untrained eye, one would be unable to discern nothing from this boy's frozen posture other than shock.

However, for one who possesses a keen eye, it was easy to deduce a sense of underlying rage that was festering within the young boy.

His eyes were laser focused and within his hands was the broken handle of what was a knife which was gripped tightly to the point that blood had been drawn. The boy's hand was shaking with barely restrained fury, not moving from where he stood as he watched his homeworld burn.

Within the recesses of his mind, he promised nothing but unadulterated vengeance against the Covenant. They would all die by his hand in one way shape or form.

If not all then as many as he would be able to get his hands on.

He swore it on the planet burning before him.

On the parents he lost.

On the brother who sacrificed his life to save his own.

The Covenant will pay!

February 3rd

*BOOOM*

"Keep your heads down kids!"

A young girl with jet black hair and porcelain skin clenched her eyes tightly as she held her younger sister close to her while the world blew up around her.

"Janet!" The older man who was with them waved rapidly. "Janet over here!"

The young girl with black hair looked up in time to see the woman whom she regarded as an aunt running towards them.

"Oh thank God." The man said, pulling her in for a tight hug. Pulling away, an alarmed expression replaced his relieved one.

"Wait, where's Carter?" The man asked in alarm.

"Reggie, he went back to find Wanda." Janet said in a near hyperventilating manner. "He ran back to Miri and Ori's home."

"He did what?!" The man shouted. "What is wrong with that boy?!"

"Reggie, we can't leave him."

"Obviously not." Reggie grunted. "Take the girls and get to safety. I'll get Wanda and Carter."

"But-"

Reggie didn't wait for a response as he deftly lifted up both girls and placed them in Janet's hands.

"Get to the evacuation point."

"Reggie-"

"Now!" Reggie shouted at her and sprinted away.

"Is mommy ok?"

Janet looked down at the two girls in her arms who were gaze up at her with terrified streaks of tears running down their faces.

She quickly gave them both a reassuring kiss on their foreheads and hugged them closely before turning to run.

"They'll be fine girls." Janet whispered. "They'll be fine."

Miranda only looked up at her auntie, fresh new tears streaming down her face as she clutched both the older woman and her little sister Oriana as tightly as she was able to.

However, as Janet was running, she was stopped when one of the monsters that were attacking jumped in front of her.

It was a large, apelike creature who looked down on the three humans with a malicious snarl that morphed into a hungry-like grin.

"I was just getting hungry." The large alien growled, drool dripping out of his mouth.

Janet's eyes widened, stepping back in horror.

The alien took a few steps towards her and in an instant, Janet spun about and ran from the beast whilst holding onto the girls as tightly as she could.

The creature only roared gleefully as he bounded towards them and caught up in a matter of seconds.

Janet screamed aloud as she was grabbed by the large brute and hoisted up in the air. Both girls fell to the ground and scrambled up to their feet.

They watched in abject horror at seeing their aunt struggle in the grip of this evil creature.

"You'll make for a perfect snack." The alien growled, inhaling the scent of the terrified human in his grasp.

"Not the children." Janet choked out. "Not the children."

The alien laughed, a vile sneer in place. "The children are just morsels that I can swallow in one gulp."

Janet simply began kicking at the creature's body to no avail which only served to make the alien chuckle at her futility.

"I like it when they fight." the alien said, saliva dripping out of his mouth. "Makes the flav-GACK!"

Janet found herself on the ground and the two young girls were staring up at the alien that something sharp protruding through its temple.

The two sisters couldn't quite see what it was that had stabbed the large alien from their angle but their aunt could.

A moment later, the sharp object was pulled out from the head and the alien fell to the ground to reveal the tallest human the three of them had ever seen in brownish green armor.

It towered over them all while flicking the knife it held to get the blood off.

The girls noted the gold visor it wore and a number on its chest plate.

095.

The large human raised two fingers to the side of its head and spoke in a male voice. "This is 095. Three survivors. What's your status 028? 081?"

While the three girls couldn't hear any response, the nodding of the tall man's head indicated that he was responding to whomever it was he was speaking with.

"Are there any more of you around?" 095 inquired, looking between them.

"Mommy." Miranda blurted out without hesitating.

"My son and husband." Janet croaked out, massaging her throat.

"Where are they?" 095 asked, grabbing the magnetically attached rifle he had from his back.

Janet managed to find the strength to stand and walked over to the two girls and wrapped her arms around them both.

"They're back that way." Janet's voice was strained as she spoke, still feeling the effects of that Brutes hand around her neck.

095's helmet tilted up to look past him and as he did, two more armored figures jumped down from above and landed behind him.

On their chest plates were the numbers 005 and 084.

095 nodded at them both with the two newcomers nodding back and then looked at the three girls.

"These three here and three others in that direction." 095 said.

"We'll take care of them." 084 said. "Get these civilians to the transport and off this planet. 028 and 081 are waiting for you there."

"Copy that." 095 nodded, looking back to the trio. "Come on, we're getting you out of here."

Miranda however wasn't so keen on leaving. "But what about-"

"We'll bring them back, kid." 084 assured, moving past them with 005.

Miranda looked between the two retreating giants and back to the one who saved her life who came up to her younger sister and easily picked her up.

"Can you walk?" 095 asked her aunt Janet who nodded and picked Oriana up. "Then let's move."

They broke into a jog or really, Janet was running whilst 095 appeared to be jogging and all around them, pandemonium continued to reign.

Miranda heard screams over laced with starfighters zipping by them from above and gunfire and explosions going off on all sides.

The young girl kept asking herself why this was happening, why were these aliens attacking her home and just who they even are.

She then thought back to her mother, her Uncle Reggie and…

Around her neck was a small locket which she held in her hand as she looked up to see X-wings and A-wings zip by with large transports following after them.

Yet as they drew closer, 095 lurched forward from being struck on his shoulder by glowing shots from behind.

"Miranda!" Janet screeched out in horror, running over to them.

095 instantly whipped around with his rifle in hand and proceeded to gun down an alien creature that appeared to have four jaws.

Yet as soon as that sole enemy died, several more took his place.

Without missing a beat, 095 handed Miranda over to Janet and reloaded his weapon.

"Your ticket off Biko is ahead." 095 said aloud. "I'll hold them off. Go now!"

Not waiting for a response, the tall, armored human dashed forward at inhuman speeds towards the alien invaders.

Janet merely stared in wide eyed astonishment before shaking her head and turned to run.

She ran a few feet when her eyes went wide, mouth open in a silent scream as she felt a searing pain on her side. A second later, she fell with Miranda and Oriana rolling onto the ground.

The oldest of the two sisters was the first to recover and saw her aunt lying on the ground, clutching the side of her stomach.

"Auntie!" Miranda cried out, rushing over to her with Oriana crying at the sight, running over to them both.

Janet struggled to look up, tears welling up in the corner of her eyes.

"Girls." She was barely able to speak. "Run. Please run."

Miranda shook her head rapidly. "No, no, no, no-"

She was cut off by her younger sister screaming and Miranda looked up to see one of those four jawed aliens standing over them with some sort of dual pronged glowing sword.

It raised its arm up, ready to kill them all when it was grabbed by someone from behind and was lifted up above the head of none other than 095.

The tall human let out a small grunt as he then smashed the head of the alien down to the ground with all his might.

Yet as soon as he had finished killing this one alien, two glowing blades burst out from behind 095.

"CALEB!"

Miranda turned her head to see two more armored humans sprinting at them at speeds she couldn't properly perceive. The one with the number 028 jumped and performed a drop kick that sent the alien that stabbed the tall human flying back.

081 tossed a grenade at the alien and it promptly blew up a second later.

"The civilians." the now identified Caleb spoke, getting one of his arms around 028's shoulders. "Get.. them… to safety."

"Don't talk right now, Caleb." 081 said, voice giving away that it was a woman. "Just breathe. We'll get you out of here."

028 gently lifted Janet up in her arms bridal style and looked to the two young sisters and got down onto her knees.

"Think you two can hold on from up here?" 028 asked in a kind voice, gesturing with her head to her broad shoulders.

Miranda wasn't sure of this but Janet managed to reach out to grasp the young girl's hand and gave her a reassuring squeeze.

"Come on Ori." Miri said quietly, helping her little sister up first and then slightly struggling herself when 081 helped pick her up and plop her down on 028's broad shoulder.

"Let's move." 081 said, the odd group moving towards the evacuation transports waiting for them.

-Scene Cut-

Miranda Lawson sat in the small seat next to her Auntie Janet who was in a medical bed, fast asleep. Next to Miranda and on her to a degree was her sleeping sister Oriana.

The three girls had been evacuated off the burning planet of Biko and had been confined to a medical wing within an Epoch Carrier for the past several days.

They actually didn't know how much time had exactly passed but just that it had gone by.

It had just been the three of them. Miranda and Oriana completely refused to leave Auntie Janet's side and in the moments the older woman was awake, pleaded to medical personnel to keep the girls close.

Miranda blinked, feeling Oriana shift a bit and move slightly enough for her to free her legs.

Blood began flowing through them and the older sister hopped down from her seat and walked over to a nearby window. Currently, the ship that they were on was orbiting a planet with two large artificial rings with multiple ships under construction.

She momentarily recalled in passing conversation from the doctors about them going to a shipyard called cute ate or something like that.

Miranda didn't have time to dwell on it any further as the door to their room opened up.

In walked their Kaminoan doctor who had been watching over Janet's recovery and behind her was-

"Uncle Reggie!" Miranda ran at full speed towards the man who simply fell to her knees and opened up his arms for her to jump into.

Oriana jolted awake, sitting up and rubbing her eyes and moments later, she too registered the man who had entered their room.

"Uncle!" Oriana leapt out of the chair and ran over to join her sister in hugging Reggie who instantly welcomed her.

"Thank God." Reggie muttered. "Thank God you're all ok."

Both sisters held onto Reggie for dear life as they had tears of joy streaming down their faces.

"Where's mommy?" Oriana asked a moment later and Reggie froze.

Miranda also noticed someone else wasn't with him. "Where's Carter?"

Reggie slumped, arms loosening around the two girls as his head dipped down low. Wordlessly, he scooped them back up again and placed them back onto the chair they had been sitting on prior to his arrival.

He gave them both a strained and tired smile, matching his somewhat disheveled appearance now that they got a proper look at him.

Reggie then turned to the bed within the room and exhaled shakily.

"Janet." Reggie whispered, hand trembling as he placed it gently upon his wife's cheek.

She did not stir but her calm breathing was enough to assuage some of his concerns.

"I'm sorry, Miranda. Oriana." Reggie's voice trembled. "Your mother… didn't make it… and Carter… is gone too."

"Gone?" Oriana spoke up in confusion.

Reggie's eyes closed tightly with his fists clenching tightly.

"They're gone, Oriana." Reggie's voice barely came out of a whisper. He then turned to them with a forlorn look in his eyes. He crouched down to their eye level and placed his hands atop their heads.

"Your Aunt Janet and I… we'll look out for the both of you." Reggie said with complete sincerity. "We promise."

"But what about daddy?" Oriana couldn't help but ask with their "uncle" flinching and nearly snarling at the mention of their biological father.

"Your father," Reggie spat out viciously. "Has long since shown how much he "cares" for his two daughters a long time ago."

Oriana flinched at the man's tone.

Yet Miranda…

Her face was impassive and rather cold.

This was nothing new to her.

Though she was only ten years old, Miranda had always stood out amongst the kids of her age from displaying a level of basic and emotional intelligence to being a bit more athletic than most. She always felt like an outlier, having very few friends at the school she went to.

There was only one person she had always felt close to as he was the only one that not only kept up with her, but many times excelled against her.

Carter was someone whom she was with from the moment she could remember and saw him every day.

Aside from Oriana, her mother and Aunt and Uncle, she loved Carter more than anyone else.

And…

He is gone now.

A moment later, the ten year old calm face broke as fresh tears began pouring down her cheeks.

Reggie turned to the girl and simply pulled her in for a hug which she reciprocated with Oriana joining in a moment later.

Silently, Reggie vowed to look out for them both until his dying breath.

Memories flashed of seeing Wanda perish by the hands of one of those Brutes that were attacking Biko and his burning house collapsing before him with his son on the other side.

Those memories only made Reggie hold the two girls who were his nieces (daughters by this point) even tighter than before.

He won't lose them.

Never again.

Reach, Highland Mountains.

April 2nd

A lone Spartan-II stood on the edge of a nearby cliff and inhaled the fresh air of the mountainside before exhaling in a satisfied manner.

It was good to be back on Reach.

To every Spartan-II, Reach was their home. This is where they trained from sunup to sundown, honing their skills like a fine-tuned blade until it was sharpened to the point that it was able to cut through just about anything.

They had only been back here sparingly for only the briefest of times before immediately being sent out on another mission, another deployment, another campaign.

This was the first time in a long while since a Spartan-II had been able to be here for longer than three days.

He had been here a week now and it was greatly refreshing for him to just be home.

"Jorge."

The Spartan turned around to see Sam-034 coming up to him with an expectant look.

"Come on big guy, you can watch the sunset later." Sam remarked. "Lasts an hour anyways."

052 let out a small 'hmph' of amusement before following after the slightly taller Spartan.

Walking into a building, Jorge and Sam were greeted to the sight of a large number of Spartan-II's.

It was practically all of them save for a literal small handful who had been deployed behind enemy lines.

While some would perceive their lack of movement as a lack of excitement, for the Spartan-II's, they might as well be screaming with excitement and joy in being all reunited like this.

There were silent gestures conveying messages that only they would know of and were speaking in low voices to one another.

Overall, there was a buzz of energy shared between the Spartans that was palpable to say the least.

They had all been gathered at the Military Wilderness Training Preserve, one of the main areas that the Spartan-II's underwent their years of training.

So there was a wave of nostalgia washing over them all until-

"Spartans."

In an instant, all forty eight of the gathered Spartan-II's snapped to attention at the arrival of none other than Senior Chief Petty Officer Franklin Mendez.

There was an underlying sense of… was it joy? Or Happiness?

Whatever it was, the sight of the man who directly trained the Spartan-II's made them stand up far more straighter than usual with their heads held high. Mendez' lip upturned slightly for a brief moment before returning to his usual stoic visage. Yet to the trained eye it was easy to spot the glimmer of pride and fondness he held at the sight of the Spartan-II's.

"At ease Spartans." Mendez said after a moment. "It's good to see you all assembled here today. I understand that Grey and Black Teams are on deployment, but still, forty eight of you being here is more than enough."

"Sir, permission to speak, sir?" John-117 spoke up with Mendez nodding at him. "What is the purpose of gathering all of us here?"

"You have all been brought here today for a rather momentous occasion of sorts." Mendez said, beginning to pace in front of the group. "Spartans, as you are well aware, the Covenant have us outgunned and outmanned three to one in this war. We may have gotten substantial victories but nearly several dozen worlds have already been claimed with only a handful being heavily disputed for."

The super soldiers all tensed up at this, hands curling up tightly. Most managed to hold back glares and flinched of anger save for some of their more abrasive brethren.

They have all seen the atrocities the Covenant have committed against the citizens of the UNSC, countless humans, Wookiees, Mon Cala and Kaminoans being killed by their hands. It only drove them further and further to kill as many Covenant as possible.

Mendez went on, rather in tune with the internal turmoil of his Spartans.

"You have all performed beyond our expectations and because of that, many owe their lives to all of you." Mendez stated, a hint of pride emanating in his voice. "However, the harsh truth of the matter is… that there aren't enough of all of you to turn the tide."

There was a sense of frustration on their end as they hadn't really considered that but when it came from someone like Mendez…

"Which is why we shall be undertaking a brand new initiative." Mendez announced, turning to the doorway closest to him.

A moment later, it opened up to reveal a man that appeared a decade or so older then Mendez in a UNSC uniform with two Wookiees, a single Mon Cala and the familiar sight of Tuan We, the Kaminoan doctor many amongst the Spartans regarded as an aunt. This new group approached the larger one and stood in front of them all.

"Spartans." Mendez said. "Colonel James Ackerson. These are Captains Fofforay and Woosara. Commander Gando and you all already know Tuan We."

The Spartans all saluted in perfect synchronization with Ackerson gesturing his hand down.

"At ease." the man said coolly, eyeing the super humans that stood before him.

He was silent for a few more seconds until-

"Spartans." Ackerson said, slowly walking down the line of Super Soldiers. "It has come to my attention that we are severely lacking in numbers in terms of your kind of soldier. Effective and powerful as you all are, fifty five is too small a number to turn the tide of the war in our favor."

The Spartans stood silently and diligently as the Colonel went on.

"But I had recently proposed a new program that will help… supplement this conundrum we face."

Behind Ackerson, the large blank screen lit up to show multiple images of different sets of armor similar to Mjolnir, X-ray scans of clearly augmented individuals and multiple rows of numbers.

"The Spartan-III program." Ackerson announced.

In an instant, difficult to discern as it may be, the Spartan-II's felt a measure of excitement reverberate between them all.

More Spartans.

The UNSC were at long last going to create more Spartans.

Though it had never been discussed or brought up, some of them had always figured that after them would come more Spartans. It only seemed like the natural course of action in the grand scheme of things.

They were trained to be the absolute best of the best in the UNSC and having more of them would undoubtedly strengthen the alliance of species that made up this government.

And with the advent of the Covenant war, this was something they had even openly discussed in private between each other whenever they had the chance.

How different could a battle had gone if they had more Spartans on the field.

In a number of engagements, at most, there would be fielded one or two entire Spartans squads with earlier this year on Biko being the first deployment where there were eleven of them on the field.

But now it was going to happen without question.

Ackerson went on.

"The Spartan-III program is both your successors and supplements. They will aid you and in time, become your brothers and sisters in arms." the Colonel said in a bit of a grandiose fashion. "All of you will contribute to this program. You will all directly train the recruits and help mold them to be just like all of you. I understand that the war takes precedent but so does this. Rather than having you all being cryo-frozen and woken up when it's convenient for us, you will now be in a state of rotation, being out on the battlefield whilst also training the next generation of Spartans. We have received devastating losses whilst also being able to inflict heavy casualties on the Covenants side. Imagine how much different the circumstances could be if we say had a hundred Spartans in one battle? Or even a thousand? Would they stand a chance?"

The Colonel frowned at the silent Super Soldiers. "I asked, would those Covenant bastards have a chance in hell if there were just a thousand of you?"

"NO SIR!" came the collective, near roaring response of the II's with Ackerson grinning in satisfaction.

"Very good to hear." Ackerson said approvingly. "Come the end of the month, the Spartan-III program will be underway. A new generation of super soldiers that will be joining your sides and trained directly under all of you. Dismissed Spartans."

Reach

April 25th

Chief Mendez stood within his personalized room where we will be staying in for a prolonged period of time once again.

He had just finished getting dressed in his standard marine uniform and was currently sifting through a datapad in his hand that regarded a series of tumultuous and dangerous training courses that many would consider to be insane.

Thankfully, this wasn't his first rodeo in insane training regimes.

Still…

He was greatly uncertain of this and slightly skeptical overall.

This wouldn't be like the first time where they would all be around the exact same age.

There were some differences this time around with some being older than the first group and more being even younger.

To be frank, Mendez wasn't quite sure if he was completely on board with such a thing yet at the same time there was a begrudging necessity for them.

Mendez looked down at his datapad and pressed an icon on the top right which closed all the files he was reading and reverted back to its first page.

On the front cover were the large bold words of the SPARTAN-III PROGRAM.

The Senior Chief Petty Officer held an expression of stoicism but internally he grimaced.

To be training children once again…

And these kids were a lot more different then the first class he had ever trained. From his initial observations of his new trainees, they were far more aggressive and quick to anger. There was a savageness to them that far exceeded that of the II's to an obscene degree.

If he were to draw comparison to the kids of the first batch of trainees known simply as Alpha Company, they reminded him a great deal of the old 20th century story Lord of the Flies.

He was skeptical in training these kids to say the least.

Yet, from a surprising source, Mendez found himself swayed upon hearing these words.

"These Spartans sound a lot more different than us. And actually a lot better." The petty officer recalled this brief conversation he had with Kurt-051 several days back.

"And why is that?"

"They have something that we didn't have when we were chosen to be Spartans. Motivation."

"Motivation huh?" Mendez muttered to himself. "We'll see about that."

Just as he finished that comment, he heard a knock on his door and a moment later, it opened to reveal the very same man he was just thinking about.

He wore a crisp and pristine white military uniform with the right portion of his chest being decorated with an assortment of medals and awards. Juxtaposed to the right side of his chest was the left which was relatively barren for the most part save for a single number.

051.

"Kurt." Mendez greeted with a respectful nod.

"We're all set and ready for you, Chief Mendez." the Spartan-II greeted. "We're all assembled in the amphitheater."

"Right then." The Senior Chief Petty Officer took his naval hat and placed it upon his head and moved to leave the room.

Kurt sidestepped for Mendez to exit first and fell into step behind the man that many of the Spartan-II's regarded as the father figure of the program.

Some of the Spartans had actually come up to Mendez before the first official meeting of the III's and had asked why was it that Halsey was not included in this program.

Mendez simply told them that she had a more serious objective for the time, focusing on developing newer models of Mjolnir as well as trying to understand how to use and emulate the Covenant technology as well as a number of other assignments. They would see her from time to time, just not having a direct hand in the Spartan-III program.

While they accepted the answer, what Mendez didn't tell the II's was Halsey's blatant disregard for the program.

She was fully aware that at one point that ONI would undoubtedly want more Spartans and the second class of Spartan-II's had already been in the works.

But many factors came into play that would undoubtedly delay the recruitment of such a class.

For starters, the obvious aspect being the required genetic material that was prerequisite if one were to be "recruited" into the program. Like the first class, the candidates had to meet a set of requirements in terms of physical prowess, mental ability and their gene code itself needed to be up to snuff to handle augmentations.

Then of course there would be the added years of training, shortened as it may be due to past experience coming into play.

And now of course there was the war which all but scrapped any and all future plans of Spartan-II's being produced.

But ONI found the work around with the III's and they'll gladly use the II's for this program.

Over in the assembly area, for those familiar with it, this was the same place that the Spartan-II's had first sat in when they were initiated into their new lives.

Standing in the center of the auditorium upon the raised platform were a few individuals who observed the seats filled with the first batch of recruits for the newly created program.

On the auditorium were the Wookiee Captains Fofforay and Woosara the Mon Cala Commander Gando and Tuan We, surveying the large group of "recruits".

Behind them were now the fully assembled fifty-five Spartan-II's who all stood at attention with their eyes firmly on the newly recruited Spartan-III's of what was labeled Alpha Company.

Both Wookiees conversed with one another, murmuring beneath their breath whilst conveying intrigue in being here.

The lone Mon Cala held a datapad in hand, going over a multitude of files that pertained to the reasoning as to why they were all here.

The Kaminoan stood close by to the humans, feeling a sense of nostalgia wash over her yet it wasn't exactly entirely pleasant.

Taun We was internally relieved to see the Spartans-II's that had been recalled back to Reach for this but she wasn't exactly excited for what they were about to do next.

She had always been a bit of a strange outlier in her species as many of her own kind had commented on Tuan's openness in forming bonds with those she was close with. She viewed Tarfful, Mendez and Halsey as close friends and the Spartan-II's were all sort of like sons and daughters, if not nieces and nephews to her.

To see such a larger group this time around…

Then again, the II's will also be playing a direct role in this program so at the very least she along with Mendez wouldn't entirely be alone.

Taun We stepped forward and regarded the large assembly of the 497 volunteering children for the newly instated Spartan-III program.

They were all young, with only a scattered few being no older than ten years old.

She always figured that she would be doing this once again. Tuan conversed with her friend Halsey on a number of occasions of the second class of Spartan-II's and how they hoped it would provide better results than the previous generations.

Not that the Spartan's they made were substandard, no.

The fifty five augmented Spartans performed beyond the expectations of what Halsey and Tuan initially believed them to be capable of. Every single test they presented before being officially deployed, they shattered their preconceived capabilities.

They were a dazzling success and had helped save millions of lives, turn the tides of battle and hold back the Covenant enough for many men and women of the UNSC to live to fight another day…

But they just weren't enough of them.

Fifty five Spartans were not enough to hold back an entire seemingly endless empire.

They needed more.

Which has led them to this point in time.

Chief Mendez had now joined them on the stage in the Amphitheater and faced the bleachers filled with children.

Children who are about to undergo the same training as their predecessors but from what Tuan had read up on, it was to be far more brutal.

Letting out a leveled sigh, the Kaminoan stepped forward and cleared her throat which was heard throughout the theater thanks to a small microphone attached to her.

"Greetings young ones." Taun We began softly. "And welcome to Reach. It is to be your home for the next few years as you have all volunteered for the Spartan-III program."

The large assembly of children listened to her in rapt, silent attention. Some looked behind her to the Spartan-II's, lingering on the enhanced super soldiers.

"I am Taun We and I shall be your caretaker, observing your progress and monitoring your health as this program you are all about to undertake will be extremely strenuous upon your young bodies."

The kids all shifted about, appearing nervous yet undeterred.

"You have been born into dangerous times." Taun We stated. "A sharp mind coupled with refined physical prowess can be the key to survival. But as often as not, it will be your inherent physical traits that win the day. And in this regard, you will be superior to your common soldier."

She watched as the children now leaned in, far more invested in what she was saying.

"For you are now Spartans, an elite soldier. Something truly special. Your weapons, your armor, and most importantly, your brothers and sisters by your sides." the kids all glanced at one another momentarily.

"And your older siblings that will teach you to become even greater." Tuan stepped aside, hand gesturing to the Spartan-II's who were all gazing back at the Spartan-III's.

"Your chief instructors." Taun nodded her head towards the two Wookiees and Mendez before placing a hand upon her chest and her other hand outstretched to Gando, the Mon Cala. "And we shall be your chief educators. But your predecessors shall be the ones to help you all tap into your greater potential."

Taun We stepped aside for several of the Spartan-II's to step forward and address the III's directly.

051, 117, 104, 092, 116, 053 and 006.

"Trainees." 051 spoke first. "I am Kurt-051. I have been selected as your primary Spartan-II instructor and will oversee nearly all facets of your training. I will not lie to you nor sugar coat what it is you're getting involved in. This training will be gruesome and test you in ways that many would deem unsuitable for one's so young as yourselves."

John spoke next. "But we are a living example that not only will you survive but excel and thrive. These next few years will forge you into the sword and shield of the UNSC, the homeworlds and all their colonies."

104 then stepped forward. "Next to you are your brothers and sisters, all of whom will be trained to learn to fight and possibly even die beside. But with this training, you will be a one man army."

"Never forget, you do not win unless your team wins." 092 now spoke. "Some may excel, may specialize in other fields but never forget that you are all a team. We are all here fighting the same enemy."

"Each team you are assigned to will be the team you shall have until it is time for your next steps." Daniel-116 stated. "But a true Spartan is one of infinite versatility and adaptability."

Margaret-053 was up next. "Your individuality is one of the greatest assets to a team so long as you remember that you're part of a squad."

"But above all else, it shall be your drive." Jai-006 finished up their collective speech. "You all have a want, a will and a need to succeed. Something far greater than your common soldier. And it's that drive that will help you achieve the title of Spartan. Just like us."

The alpha company kids now held a far more determined look in their eyes upon hearing all this, turning their heads to Mendez who now stood in front of them all.

"Trainees! Fallout!"

-Scene Cut-

All the while, as war raged on in one portion of the galaxy between two galactic civilizations, another was making preparations for an ambitious expansion into what they deemed to be the unknown.

The Citadel

2530/2174

The population of the large artificial structure was abuzz with excitement and anticipation as the Citadel Council had apparently an important announcement planned for today.

Many had gathered around one docking port in particular where it was clear as day to the large new ship that had been constructed by all the Citadel races in a coordinated effort of over five years. The ship was the largest to have ever been built, nearly 2.5 kilometers in size.

There were other ships built by the various species of the Citadel that were large in their own right such as the Kel-Dorian Ketara starship, eternal class or the TTAZ's own Destiny Ascension.

But none came close to the size that this brand new ship boasted.

State of the art technology complemented with the absolute best of the best within Citadel space to man this ship and its many accompanying vessels.

The crowd continued to grow as time went on, surrounding the port as well as an elevated platform with a number of chairs set up and a single podium.

The gathering of civilians were continually chatting with another, the excitement palpable in the air until-

"Ah, it is wonderful to see so many come together for this occasion."

All in attendance were effectively silenced with the arrival of the entire Citadel Council now standing upon the platform made for them. The eight council members stood in a line side by side whilst one of them was behind the podium, ready to address the assembled crowd.

"Greetings to you all." the Togrutan Counselor known as Shaak Ti spoke in a calm and serene voice. "It is a sight to behold to see so many in attendance here on this momentous day."

Behind Shaak Ti was the previously mentioned Council.

Tevos for the Asari, Leonie for the Zeltron, Leontyne for the Twi'leks, Gnost Dural for the Kel-Dor, Sparatus for the Turians, Dassid being the newest Council member as the Duros representative and Edall, the current Salarian representative.

Shaak Ti continued on, tuning out the chatter of the large crowd.

"As you all know, the goal of the Citadel is to keep the needs of our civilization and its people first and foremost." Ti's tone easily commanded the attention of all present and many listening in from many parts of the Citadel and the Citadel space itself. "For many years now, though small conflicts arose, we have kept a great deal of relative peace throughout our portion of the galaxy. But in that time came a feeling of growing complacency."

Edall and Dassid showed a clear sign of growing excitement as Shaak Ti went on.

"Which is why, for the past five years, we have undertaken the steps towards the greatest endeavor of our generation." Shaak Ti momentarily stepped back to glance up at the newly built ship that had been constructed.

"This new ship, this Spire is the culmination of all these years of diligent cooperation between all our races to create the flagship that will lead our civilization into the unknown." Shaak Ti stated. "The journey ahead is one that can contain endless possibilities but we are not so foolish as to not learn from our past mistakes. We will be taking the best from many fields of mechanics, science and even war that will lead us into the unknown and enlighten us to the larger galaxy that we have shut ourselves away from for far too long."

The crowd was now close to a frenzy of anticipation as they now knew a rumor that has been ongoing for these past five years to be true.

At first it was small, being extremely selective of those who were chosen to join this project. But naturally, those brought in grew over time and with it, the rampant rumors and ideas as to just what they were being recruited for.

Many speculated as to what it was that all these people were working so hard on.

Some believed it was the build up to a new fleet, others towards more outlandish projects such as the use of FTL without the Mass Relays.

And after all that, here it was in front of them all.

"We shall continue to do what many of our ancestors have done in centuries past." Shaak Ti stated. "Voyaging into the unknown, making the discoveries that would change and shape the galaxy as we know it. It will be difficult as it is dangerous. But we firmly believe that the rewards that can come with it shall be worth it in time. Species that we have yet to encounter, technology waiting to be discovered and new worlds for new homes for all."

Shaak Ti took a step back with a broad smile in place.

"I declare this to be the day that the Citadel Expeditionary Force begins its grand journey through the stars."

Cheers erupted from the crowd as all in attendance clapped, whooped and made an assortment of noises as the large Spire ship behind the Council appeared to fire up its engines and began powering up all its functions.

This would be the start of their Great Journey.

Whew, glad to be back with this one.

BulletStormX and I haven't had much luck in terms of getting our stories but I can tell you this.

Spirit Unto Dawn's next chapter is almost done and we're getting back our groove with our stories.

A perfect storm of sorts took place in these last few months.

Mass Effect legendary addition and more Halo Infinite Announcements so there's a returning drive to get back to these stories.

We've both been busy but I'm glad to say we're getting a return to form. Hopefully we can churn out a few more chapters sooner than later.

Anywho, there's some real cool stuff to come.

First off, the ship the Citadel has built actually has a direct look that you can all check out.

Go to DeviantArt and look up Core Spire by the artist Daemoria. It's a rough idea of what the ship the Citadel expedition is using.

So while war rages on with the UNSC and Covenant, the Citadel embarks on their voyage into the unknown. How exciting.

So that's all for now folks.

Rate Read and Review and as Always Have Nice Day.