Hello again, everyone, and welcome back to my Halo/Star Wars crossover. Thank you for your patience and support. I greatly appreciate it.
I've worked out an updating schedule that I think will work out. On the week days, I'll be updating the two crossovers that I currently want to focus on. On the weekends, I'll update this crossover. If this is fine by you, let me know in the reviews below.
Also, I've got a new crossover that I think you'll like. It's known as Mass Effect: From Tarkov to The Future. If you haven't read it by now, I highly recommend that you do so.
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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, Lucasfilm, Disney Films, etc. Any material original to the franchises belongs 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 their original composers and/or artists.
Fire Team Osiris
Yavin Prime
5 ABY
The engines on Locke's Broadsword fighter thrummed as he accelerated. Keying his COM, he said, "Osiris, move into formation. Follow Wedge's fighter."
With the practiced ease of a military group moving into formation, the rest of Fire Team Osiris moved their fighters into position, taking up a standard chevron formation behind Wedge's starfighter. Once they were behind Wedge, Locke looked over his fighter's systems to make sure his weapons were ready to rock. Everything's been refueled and rearmed, he thought. Perfect. Time to go to war.
As he thought this over, he heard a buzzing sound on his COM. Checking it, he opened a frequency just in time to hear another New Republic starfighter pilot sending out a distress signal. "This is Talus Leader, calling for immediate assistance!"
Locke was about to answer when Wedge beat him to the punch. "Captain Antilles here with Vanguard Squadron and Fire Team Osiris – here to help."
"It's damn good to see you, Wedge," Talus Leader sighed, relief in her voice. "We've taken heavy losses – we need that Star Destroyer stopped!"
"Don't you worry," Frisk added in. "We're here to hijack it!"
"You're – what?!"
"Be ready," Wedge firmly answered.
As they got closer, Frisk shouted, "Interceptors! Those have got to be the first to go!"
"Agreed. They're fast, they'll rip right through our fighters. Luckily, we've got a team that can intercept them. Osiris, can you prioritize the interceptors?"
"Of course," Locke replied. "Vale?"
"TIE Interceptors have only a fraction of the Broadsword's top speed, sir," Vale replied. "We can easily counter-intercept them. Just say the word and we can take them out."
"Agreed," Locke nodded. "Captain Antilles, permission to engage?"
"Granted," Wedge replied. "Do what you do best."
"Affirmative. Vale, Buck, Tanaka, move to intercept the TIE Interceptors. Use your missiles to soften them up at range, then move in for the kill."
"Affirmative," the others replied. With that, Locke hit the throttle for his own fighter. As the Broadsword accelerated to top speed, he keyed in his missiles and locked onto a few targets. Once he heard a consistent tone, he let loose, firing off four of the sixteen Medusa missiles that he had.
While the TIE Interceptors were fast, they weren't fast enough to dodge ST/Medusa missiles designed to destroy Covenant fighters. One TIE pilot, spotting an incoming missile, threw the TIE Interceptor into a hard right bank in an effort to dodge. Said effort was in vain, as the missile smoothly compensated, before smashing into the fighter and detonating.
An explosion tore through the doomed fighter with the fury of a tornado. Durasteel and other materials were hurled outwards, with a large puff of smoke and dust being created for all to see. As it drifted away in Yavin Prime's atmosphere, the debris from the wrecked fighter began falling towards the planet's core, with little in the way to stop it. Numerous other TIE Interceptors met the same fate, exploding into debris courtesy of the advanced missiles and their warheds.
Looking at the carnage from Vanguard Squad's position, Wedge could clearly see that Orveskar wasn't exaggerating when he told him what he'd seen the Broadswords do. The UNSC's certainly had a lot of time to hone their weapons and fighters, he thought. If what I heard about them was true, then they had to, otherwise they faced extinction. Let's see if we can't help them out. "Move to engage the TIE's," he ordered the others.
Moments later, Vanguard Squadron joined the fray, their engines flaring as they zoomed in towards the TIE fighters. Inside his X-Wing, Orveskar gritted his teeth as he fought a gust of wind that threatened to make him lose control of his X-Wing. This is why we don't fly starfighters in atmosphere, he thought. They become very hard to control.
Looking at the Broadswords that Osiris were using, he was surprised to see that they weren't having the same difficulty at all. Probably because they were designed to fly in an atmosphere, as well as in space. If only our starfighter designs went the same way as well, then we wouldn't be having as hard a time. Shrugging, he gunned the throttle and flew towards the TIE fighters.
Flying towards one, he spotted a TIE interceptor and moved to engage. As soon as the targeting system showed he could hit the fighter, he depressed the firing stud. The TIE fighter exploded spectacularly, with debris zipping past the canopy of the X-Wing as he sped through space. Spotting another TIE, he moved to engage it.
Just as he did, three massive rents opened up on the TIE, with the fighter spinning helplessly into Yavin Prime's atmosphere. Looking around, he spotted one of the Broadswords flying past him. "Nice shot," he heard Buck remark.
"Thanks," he replied back. "You stole my kill."
"As long as you make it out alive, then it's everyone's kill."
"Whatever."
As they continued to fight, Locke watched as Orveskar targeted another TIE fighter and fired off a missile. Instead of detonating explosively, he watched as the TIE's engines sputtered before going dark completely. The explanation came a moment later when Frisk shouted, "Nice shot – that ion missile knocked their systems dead! We'll finish 'em off!"
As the TIE fighter was destroyed, Locke thought, Hhmm, looks like it's an EMP delivery system. We could use something like that. He made a mental note to have someone from ONI onboard the Infinity clandestinely retrieve an ion missile for study.
"We've got a wave of fresh Interceptors," Antilles warned them. "Take them out!"
"Go it," Locke replied. Wheeling around, he fired off the fighters MLA's, blasting some of the incoming interceptors out of the air. "Buck, you've got this!"
"On it," Buck replied. The ODST turned Spartan-IV quickly maneuvered through the hostile airspace of Yavin Prime, his Broadsword expertly maneuvering through TIE fighters to get at the interceptors. Dodging and weaving, he blasted interceptors out of the air with ease.
It wasn't long before all of the enemy TIE fighters had been completely neutralized. Firing off a missile, Locke watched as the last TIE fighter was blasted out of existence. "Enemy's toast," Frisk crowed over the COM.
"That's it," Wedge reported. "All TIE's down. Good job, Vanguard. Same to you, Osiris. Looks like your reputation is well earned."
"We worked hard to earn it," Locke nodded. "You don't get a good reputation by slacking off."
"And it shows. Alright, all squadrons, regroup on Talus Leader."
As they moved towards Talus Leader, she said, "Wedge, we've taken heavy losses. We need to make a few repairs, then get out of here."
"Roger that, Talus Leader. And don't worry about the Imperials. We'll keep 'em busy."
"You're really gonna steal that Star Destroyer?"
"That's the plan. OK, Vanguard and Osiris, on me. Let's head for the Victorum."
"Well," Buck joked. "Looks like we'll be seeing our very first Star Destroyer. If that light cruiser from earlier was what they call 'light', then I wonder what their actual medium weight ships look like."
"We're about to find out," Locke agreed as they flew towards the Victorum.
In terms of Star Destroyers, the Victorum was your standard Imperial warship. It was around a kilometer long, with the entire hull shaped in a manner similar to that of an arrowhead. The bridge was located at the back where the arrowhead was thickest, with the entire bar shaped structure built on top of a short column that elevated it over the rest of the hull. As one moved forwards, the hull became progressively thinner and thinner, until it was a knife-like edge at the end of the hull.
Even from the kilometers distance away they were at, Locke could see heavy damage. Large portions of the hull were blackened from weapons fire, and he thought he could see craters and compromised hull sections from his position. Despite this, the Victorum continued to stand tall and proud.
Still, in terms of warships, Star Destroyers are not that practical, Locke assessed. The bridge is exposed to all forms of attack, the shape of the hull isn't conductive to modern warfare, and I'm seeing a lot of modules that are exposed to weapons fire. This thing wouldn't last a minute in the Covenant-UNSC War, even less than that nowadays. He couldn't help but shake his head at the design of the warship itself.
"That's not a very good warship," Vale remarked, echoing his thoughts. "See that bridge? It would take just a single plasma torpedo from a CCS-class Battle Cruiser to destroy that thing and render the ship helpless."
"I agree," Tanaka nodded. "That thing's just way too easy to destroy. The Covenant would probably be laughing at the thing, before destroying it out of spite."
"Focus," Buck told the others. "We're here to steal the damned thing, not comment about how practical it is."
"Agreed," Locke nodded. "Wedge has a plan to take it, and we're going to follow it."
As they flew forwards, Grace said, "Focus your shields before they fire on us."
"Got it," Orveskar said over the COM. "Switching shields to double front. Hey, Locke, can your shields do that?"
"No, but they're already fairly strong. Our maneuverability should keep us safe."
"Alright, just asking. No harm in that."
"Knock out their targeting system," Wedge ordered.
"Putting power to forward shields," Frisk reported.
As they closed within range, the Star Destroyer's turbolasers turned, before opening fire on the teams. Moving his Broadsword, Locke dodged the incoming bolts, with the rest of his Fire Team doing the same. Vanguard Squadron did the same, having first hand experience battling Star Destroyers.
"Spast!" Frisk cursed loudly as he dodged a turbolaser bolt. "All that damage and that thing still has teeth!"
"No wonder Talus Group took a beating just chasing it here," Grace agreed.
"I wanted to see the Victorum go up in flames," Talus Leader added, "but stealing it? I like that even better."
"We're just like pirates in that regard," Buck joked. "Arrgh! Avast, me hardy crew!"
"Buck," Locke said.
"What? Can't blame me for wanting a little fun!"
"Firing," Tanaka reported. Before anyone could react, a pair of missile streaked out from the Broadsword before smashing into the hull of the Star Destroyer. Missiles designed to penetrate nanolaminate tore through the hull of the Star Destroyer, with shrapnel cutting through the targeting system.
Outside, Locke watched as electricity rippled over the hull of the Star Destroyer. Fragile circuits inside of the warship were fried instantly, while parts of the hull glowed red-hot from the intense heating created by the overload. "Star Destroyer targeting's out for good," Gunny reported.
"The U-Wings can get in safely," Keo nodded.
"This is our chance to capture the Star Destroyer," Wedge announced. "If we take the bridge, we'll have access to it's internal systems. Scan for a breach point so that we can send in a boarding team."
"I got it," Vale shouted. "I'll scan for a weak point, then I'll hammer it."
"Check the rear of the Star Destroyer. The spine that's connected to the bridge is the most obvious section to go for. It's relatively undefended."
As Vale flew towards the rear of the Star Destroyer, Gunny said, "Breaching a Star Destroyer. Just like the old days."
"Watch out, Vanguard," Frisk joked. "We've got a Gunny story incoming!"
"Five hasn't heard it," Keo remarked, "and neither have Fire Team Osiris."
"Ugh… Sure. Just tell me when I can turn my comms back on."
"Not now!" Locke shouted. "Everyone, stay focused. We can trade stories when we're back on the Temperance. Vale, what's your status?"
"Found a weak point," she reported. "Firing missiles!" As he flew around the back, Locke watched as two missiles streaked into the spine of the Star Destroyer's rear. Apparently, she struck gold, as a large explosion billowed out from the spine, with a large hole being created.
"Right in the trash chute!" Gunny observed.
"Now, push those TIE fighters back," Wedge ordered. "Clear the skies."
As the battle raged, Locke heard his COM ping. Spotting the caller ID, he said, "Grafton II, I thought you were sticking with the fleet. Has something changed?"
"We're coming to send you drone resupplies," Petrov replied. "Misriah Armory came up with a nice way to resupply Broadswords that were still flying. If you send out a resupply request, a drone will fly over and refill your missiles. Just be careful: they're vulnerable in this state. If the enemy fires on the missiles."
"I understand," Locke replied. "We'll call for a resupply once the remaining TIE's are down."
"Roger that. Good hunting." With that, Locke continued to help eliminate the remaining TIE fighters.
"These TIE fighters just keep coming," Wedge remarked.
Moments later, Frisk came over the COM, and his tone of voice was desperate. "Got interceptors on me! Can't shake 'em! Someone help me out here!"
"I've got 'em," Orveskar shouted. "Keep 'em off your tail long enough for me to shoot them! Locke, can you send targeting data on the offending TIE Interceptors?!"
"Sending now," Locke shouted.
In his X-Wing, Orveskar watched as two TIE Interceptors winked red, indicating that they were the targets. Gunning the throttle of his X-Wing, he flew in towards one and blasted it with his blaster cannons. The enemy TIE fighter exploded into dust, allowing him to engage the second TIE Interceptor. "I'm in a real bind here," Frisk shouted.
"Hang on, Frisk. I've gotcha!" Targeting the last fighter, Orveskar fired an ion missile, then hammered the TIE with his blaster cannons. Immobilized by the missile, the Interceptor was blasted out of the sky. "Got them!"
"Yes! Thanks, Five! I owe you one."
"Oh, it's nothing. Just doing my job here."
"Let's stop those fighters!"
"I couldn't agree more."
With that, the battle raged on. As the fighting progressed, it was clear that the TIE pilots were completely outmatched by their UNSC and New Republic counterparts. Within a few minutes, all enemy TIE fighters had been wiped out. "That's it!" Wedge reported. "All enemy TIE's down! Great work! U-Wings are on the way. We can bring in the boarding team safely."
"Agreed," Locke nodded. Keying his COM, he said, "Osiris One to Grafton II. Requesting resupply, over."
"Copy that," Petrov replied. "Drone resupply on the way!"
A couple minutes later, Locke got a good look at the resupply drone. It was a fairly spindly thing, with an armored center, likely where the electronics were at, as well as what looked like armored missile racks. Flying over to the Broadsword, it latched onto the fighter, just as missile reload ports opened. With the precision and speed that only a machine could have, it loaded new missiles into the fighter, before detaching and flying off.
Wow, Locke remarked as he checked his missiles. Fully loaded and ready to go. Looks like the others are resupplying too. Looking outside, he watched as other drones rearmed the other Broadswords.
"That's really handy," Buck beamed.
"Resupplying in the middle of action," Tanaka observed. "Now that is what I call efficiency."
"Osiris, you done resupplying?" Wedge asked.
"Affirmative," Locke replied.
"Good. Follow me to the rendezvous. We'll give them cover."
"Roger that." With that, both squadrons began flying towards the rear of the Star Destroyer, engines flaring as they quickly made their way over.
As they flew over, Locke spotted contacts appearing on his long range RADAR screen. Wedge recognized them, as he said, "Boarding team, we have you in our sights. Ready to take on a Star Destroyer?"
"Copy, Captain Antilles," the boarding team leader replied. "Just get us there and we'll do the rest."
"You heard them, Vanguard, Osiris. Guide those U-Wings into position. Stay sharp."
"What about the Star Destroyer's crew?" Keo asked.
"If our boarding party takes the bridge, they'll slice internal security systems," Wedge explained. "The crew won't be a problem with no computer access and all blast doors closed."
As they flew towards the U-Wings to escort them in, Gunny said, "We've got an Imperial Carrier! They're launching reinforcements!"
"They're not giving up the Victorum without a fight," Wedge realized.
"Petrov," Locke asked, "can you handle the Imperial Carrier?"
"Affirmative," Petrov replied. "Captain Antilles, this is Captain Petrov of the Grafton II. We'll handle the enemy Imperial Carrier. You escort those U-Wings into position and take that Star Destroyer."
"Copy that," Wedge replied.
. . .
Onboard the Grafton II, Petrov watched as the ship exited the non-dimension that was Slipstream Space, and entered the upper atmosphere of Yavin Prime. Immediately, the ship shuddered as extra stresses were placed onto it's frame, with winds buffeting it as it entered normal space. Air that was outside the portal rushed into the portal before it closed behind the ship.
Despite the minor vibrations, Petrov wasn't concerned. These frigates were designed to withstand stresses far greater than that, he thought. A little wind won't hurt the Grafton II. Cause it to shake around a little, yes, but hurt it, no.
With that part of his mind set at ease, he focused on their main objective: the Imperial Quasar that was about to launch fighters at the Victorum, and by extension, Vanguard Squadron and Fire Team Osiris. Good thing we got close enough to perform drone resupplies. Now, we can flex our military muscle once again.
"Sir," Jones, the ship's AI, asked him. "Permission to use the MAC?"
"Denied," Petrov replied. "We won't be using the MAC on the Imperial Quasar. I want you to deploy countermeasures and scramble any attempts they'll make to send for help. Bring us alongside the Quasar. We're going to batter it to pieces."
"Aye, sir," Jones replied.
"All hands," Petrov announced, "man your battle stations! Prepare for broadside assault." Turning back to Jones, he said, "You have control of point defense systems. Keep the TIE fighters from molesting us."
With that, the Grafton II moved to take out the Imperial Quasar. Apparently, the enemy Captain knew he was in trouble, as all the TIE fighters moving towards the Victorum immediately turned around, while new fighters launched to engage the Grafton II. At the same time, the Quasar took up a broadside position.
Moments later, both sides of the fight clashed with each other. It was like a battle of titans, one representing the oppression and imperialism of the Galactic Empire, and one representing the sword and shield that was Earth's protector. Turbolaser bolts and MAC rounds cut through the atmosphere of Yavin Prime, with both sides working to gain the upper hand over the other.
Onboard the Grafton II, Petrov felt the ship shudder as turbolaser bolts smacked into the energy shielding that served as the ship's primary form of defense. At the same time, MAC rounds sailed through the air and smashed into the Imperial Quasar. Apparently, this Captain hadn't gotten the memo, as the particle shields weren't up, allowing the MAC slugs to smash into the Quasar with wild abandon.
Within a minute, it was all over for the Imperials, but not without some cost. "Damage to the port hangar bay," Jones reported to Petrov.
"Severity?"
"Moderate. It'll be out of commission for a week."
"Sir, enemy reactor fracturing," an ensign shouted to him.
"Clear the blast radius!" Petrov bellowed. "Have Vanguard and Osiris remain clear!" With that, the powerful fusion engines on the frigate thundered to life, quickly moving the frigate out of the blast radius.
Seconds later, the Imperial Quasar detonated. A powerful blast wave tore through the air, as the enemy warship splintered into thousands of small pieces. The Grafton II visibly shuddered as the blast wave traveled past it, though the wave was quickly losing energy. By the time it reached the Victorum, there wasn't enough energy to cause anything other than a minor shudder.
. . .
Onboard his X-Wing, Antilles watched as the Quasar was destroyed by the Grafton II, with the enemy warship being blasted into thousands of pieces. Now that he saw the UNSC's frigate in action, he could guess at how powerful the UNSC's Navy was. A ship that would've taken a good five minutes to kill was destroyed in mere seconds, he thought to himself. That puts how powerful they are into perspective. Good thing they're on our side them.
A moment later, Petrov said, "Enemy Quasar destroyed. Has the boarding team taken the Victorum?"
Just as Wedge was about to say yes, the boarding team leader said, "Yes! We've sliced internal security! The ship is ours now!"
"Good. We're heading back to the Temperance. It's been fun working with you, Wedge."
"Likewise," Wedge nodded. "Vanguard Squadron, Fire Team Osiris, you did good today."
"Drinks are on me," Orveskar shouted. As they prepared to make the jump to lightspeed, there was one thing that was certain: so far, all was going well.