Author's Note: To start off, I'm aware that I promised a sequel to my TWD / Halo crossover Second Wind. I will still keep to that promise, but only after I complete My Last of Us / Halo Recommissioned because I want to focus on one zombie story at a time. Also, I'm no physicist so I'll do my best scientific interpretations to compare the differences in FTL travel, weapon strengths, and other such items. Anyways, here's my take on this already filling selection of sci - fi stories. Also the updates on this may be sporadic (every month or two) because I'm also writing Recommissioned at the same time.
Disclaimer: I don't own Halo or Star Wars as they belong to Microsoft/343 Industries and Disney.
"Quotes."
"Radio Messages."
*Thoughts and/or reading*
Aszod Shipyard, Reach
August 26th, 1749 Hours, 2552
A plasma torpedo was shot out of the sky mere yards away from the ship's titanium hull. The heat, however, managed to still affect the Frigate, warping it's armor plating and decreasing its overall effectiveness. Point defense guns lit up the darkening sky as Banshees tried strafing the remaining ground forces doing their damndest to retreat aboard.
"That's another three Banshees K.I.A." The third generation Smart A.I. Alyx reported.
Commander Shawn Green stared at the battle in real time via the holo - table. "They can't last that long out there. How long until we can get them boarded?"
Alyx's model flickered as a plasma cannon hit near the engines. She was bright blue and modeled after a Naval - Aviation pilot from the 21st century United States Navy.
"We'll be ready to make atmosphere in five minutes if they hurry. We're loading a battalion on a ship meant for nothing larger than a company." She reported.
"Tell them to get a move on. We aren't leaving them behind, but if we stay any longer we'll be ripped apart from those Covenant assholes right on our heads." Shawn ordered.
Alyx's avatar flashed yellow. "Ping sent. However, I must report that Major Briggs has unfortunately been killed. His second in command, Captain Mariah Jones, has assumed command."
The light flickered as a pulse laser grazed the reactor hull.
"Status report." Shawn ordered, looking to one of his bridge crew.
"Our wings have been clipped. The reactor wasn't touched, but that doesn't mean we can stay planetside any longer sir." Lieutenant Brown said with a panic stricken voice.
"Get me a direct link to the Captain, now. And get as many point defense guns as you can to act as artillery." Shawn sternly told Alyx.
"On it." The A.I. responded, displaying the helmet camera of the Marine Captain.
"Captain, this is Commander Shawn. The holo - table shows a rough situation out there, and it isn't any better here. Triple time your men to get aboard. I don't care if you have to cram the loading bays to do it, but we can't stay here any longer." He ordered her.
"Affirmative Commander!" Mariah yelled. "Shits EXTREMELY dicey o—- Tromley get down!"
The Marine ducked, just barely dodging a focus rifle beam aimed directly at where his head had just been.
"We're loading as fast as we can sir, but these fucking Covvies won't let up!" Mariah shouted into the bridge.
"Alyx, how many of her men are still out there?" Shawn asked the A.I.
"One second. . . there's still two hundred fourty six Marines fighting. We're bringing in as many as we can at once, but I estimate that out of the eight hundred strong we could've had, only about five hundred will be alive by the time we can break atmosphere. And that's if we aren't blown to bits by those cruisers." Alyx reported.
"Sir, energy readings from the enemy cruiser just spiked. It's charging it's glassing beam." Lieutenant Chensaid.
Shawn stared long and hard at the screen displaying the Captain's camera. "Captain, you have about ninety second to get the rest of your men on board. We cannot stay any longer. Lieutenant Burns, get Pelicans in the air, start taxiing if we have to; redirect whatever fighters we have left to protect them."
"Aye sir." The third bridge member responded.
"Please don't leave any of us behind, none of us want to die here, not today." Mariah begged.
"We're doing the best we can with our limited resources on such short notice. We'll all make it out of here, alive." Shawn tried reassuring her.
The evacuation continued, increasing in intensity. Pelicans with overloaded capacities ferried Squads, and even occasionally entire Platoons, of Marines into the hangar bays.
"Glassing beam at eighty nine percent Commander. We're cutting it close." Alyx informed him.
"Lieutenant Scourch, get emergency slipspace prepped. Once those Marines are on board we're making an in atmosphere jump."
"Ninety four percent." Alyx warned.
"Sir, the last Pelican is onboard and the hangar's sealed." Lieutenant Burns reported.
"Lieutenant Scourch, emergency jump now!" Shawn blasted out at his navigator.
A portal of swirling blue colors opened up as the Paris - class Frigate throttled towards it. In response, the Covenant glassing beams shot down and landed firmly planetside. Radioactive signatures spiked as the superheated plasma burned against the portal, making it glow an abnormal level of bright blue and throwing the Frigate to the side mid - entry. Everyone braced as the ship completely entered the slipspace portal, leaving the dying planet behind.
Republic Landing Zone, Umbara
20 BBY
The LAAV landed softly against on the designated pad of the Republic base. The swide door swung open, allowing Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker to step out and greet the two decorated 501st Clone Troopers standing right outside waiting for him.
"Rex, Fives, good to see you two." He greeted them.
"Sir." They synchronously said, bringing their arms into a salute.
"At ease gentlemen. What've I missed while I was gone?" He asked with a smile on his face.
Rex let out a sigh. "There's no easy way to say it, General. General Krell tried to pivot us against General Kenobi's 212th Attack Battalion, and nearly succeeded."
"Whoa whoa whoa, slow down. What?" Anakin asked with a confused look.
"After you left and General Krell took over, he treated us like nothing more than blasted droids; didn't care about casualties." Rex began.
Anakin tried reasoning. "We all know he has a higher casualty count, but he still gets the job done."
"It's not like that sir. Long story short, there was a Seperatist supply ship that was making our lives a living hell and we could have easily gone and destroyed it, but after I relayed the idea to General Krell, he immediately shot it down. Taking the initiative, I authorized Fives, Jesse, and Hardcase to take it out, but Hardcase didn't make it." Rex continued, taking a slight pause.
Anakin rubbed his chin, pondering if he could make any sort of case for how Krell decided to negate such an opportunity to deal such a blow to the enemy.
"Afterwards, he wanted Fives and Jesse executed for treason, thankfully the others couldn't go through with it and deliberately spared them. Before Dogma and his squad could be reprimanded for such an act, we were notified of an attack by the Separatists and General Krell told us that the enemy would be wearing stolen clone armor and weapons. That was our biggest mistake. When we engaged what we thought was the enemy, we realized too late that it was the 212th; and after Waxer's death during the firefight, we knew we had been betrayed. I marched my men into the command center and… had some difficulty capturing the then Ex - General."
"Can I see where you're holding him? I want to have a look at him for myself." Anakin inclined.
"That's not possible sir. We were going to have prepped him for transport, but Dogma executed him so we had to put him into custody and ship him back into atmosphere just before you arrived."
It took a minute for Anakin to process the information. Once Rex was done explaining the situation to him, his eyes widened in shock before immediately shifting to proud.
"I must say Rex, you went above and beyond and not only secured your portion of the planet, but also taking out a traitor. Well done." Anakin praised.
"It wasn't only me sir, but all of us." Rex replied, turning around and gesturing to Fives and all of the other clones around.
"Well, in any case, you all did exceptionally well." Anakin nodded.
As the 'debriefing' ended, another clone jogged up towards them carrying a tablet, and seemingly in a hurry.
"General." The clone saluted.
"What is it trooper?" Anakin inquired.
"Our Venators in orbit read a large radioactive signature nearby. It was only momentary, but it was followed up a minute later by this message." Pressing a button on his tablet, an audio visualizer centering itself on the screen.
"Mayday, mayday, mayday. This is UNSC FFG - 416 Excadia, our engines are damaged and we're dead in the water. Requesting immediate medical assistance. Priority Echo - Foxtrot - Alpha." A female voice said over the distress signal. "Mayday, mayday -"
The clone ended the recording as it began replaying. A confused look was plastered on Rex, Fives, and Anakin's faces.
"I've never heard of a ship like that before, let alone this 'UNSC'. Could it possibly be a Seperatist trap General?" Rex asked.
"It's most definitely a possibility, but I'm not too sure about it. The force isn't giving me any negative senses about the signal, so it could be someone truly in danger. As to why they're all the way out here is a mystery itself." Anakin said. "Get me a holo - comm to Obi - Wan. He'll surely want to hear about this."
"Yes sir." The clone responded, turning and walking back into the base.
"If this is another Seperatist trap, I'm going to lose it." Fives commented.
"Aren't we all." Anakin replied, following the clone.
Unknown Space
Date: Unknown, Time: Unknown, Year: 2552?
A swirling blue portal opened up in the middle of black emptiness of space. A vessel suddenly exited the portal, the anomaly closing behind it. In the bridge, everyone rocked forward as the sudden deceleration jerked the entire complement of Naval and Marine personnel. The normal blue fluorescent lights began to dim as a crimson red replaced it as an alarm began blaring.
"Alyx, report." Shawn said.
Her avatar didn't spring up on the holo - table, but her voice came through the speakers.
"The reactor is experiencing a meltdown, that plasma lance must have done more damage than we thought. All power going to the engines has been cut; basic life support and gravity systems are all that we can power until engineers stabilize the reactor." The A.I. reported.
"As if we haven't endured enough shit today." Shawn growled. "Alright, get engineering groups one through three down there, put them in CBRN gear and monitor for radiation spikes. And get a mayday signal out, we need reinforcements and medical assistance for our brand new battalion."
"Understood." She said, cutting off from the bridge intercom.
"Lieutenant Scourch, see if you can get any readings of where we are."
"Aye sir." Scourch replied with a British accent.
"Alyx." Shawn requested.
"Yes Commander?" Her synthetic voice said over the speakers.
"Send Captain Jones and Major Harper up here, tell them to head into the adjacent War Room. We need to consolidate ourselves before we plan our next move. Lieutenant Shin, you have the bridge." Shawn ordered, sweat running down his face as the air conditioning had been subsequently one of the systems shut off.
Stepping out of the bridge, the two ODST guards basked in the swirling red light saluted Shawn. Nodding to them, one of them broke formation and followed him the few feet he took down the hall and into the War Room.
The ODST stood guard outside the door as Shawn fiddled with his collar. The air was warm, stuffy, the adrenaline high from Reach just a few hours prior had yet to wear off. The interior of the room was even less impressive than the professionalism Shawn was trying to maintain. It held a holo - table in the center supported by monitoring equipment not too dissimilar to the bridge's. It went by many names like the secret meeting spot, the officers briefing room, and the brig machine.
In the moment it didn't matter. They were who knows where dead in the water, a Naval officer's worst nightmare. The intercom on the door buzzed.
"Sir, Captain Jones and Major Harper have arrived."
Shawn placed his thumb on the transmitter button. "Send them in Marine."
The electronic door opened as a female in forest green armor and a male in urban black armor, both with their helmets off, stepped into the room and snapped to a salute.
"At ease officers. For what it's worth, don't bother spending your energy on menial things right now, especially in the ship's current state." He explained, fanning himself with his hat.
Mariah rubbed some sweat that had fallen into her eyes. "With all due respect sir, when is the air conditioning going to be turned back on."
"Engineers are working on it, Captain. We have to wait for them to stabilize the reactor, it was hit by that damn plasma lancer you no doubt saw."
"Fucking great. Damn Covvies always ruining what little amenities we have." Frank groaned.
"Major, I agree, but right now, what I need from you two are status reports. I want roll call, dead, wounded, sitting on their asses."
Mariah sighed. "I'll get my Lieutenants on it sir." She turned away and put on her helmet, the alarm making it impossible to hear what she commed to her inferior officers.
"All sixty four ODSTs are present and accounted for and are currently waiting for this alarm to turn off."
"Ok. Alyx, what's the status of the Engineers?"
"Their repairs are about sixty percent complete. Some of them had to be escorted out due to soaking higher than safe amounts of radiation, so it's slowing down. Once the reactor is at a minimum eighty five percent, I can begin flushing out the excess radiation."
"Understood. Keep me posted on their progress. Send those afflicted down to quarantine for examination and treatment."
"Got it. Lieutenant Scourch is requesting me, sir."
"Go see what he needs." He granted the A.I. "Captain, do you have a head count yet?"
"One moment sir, Bravo company is still counting."
A few hot seconds went by before she turned back to face him with a weary look in her eyes.
"Out of a seven hundred fourty eight strong battalion, I only have five hundred thirty eight men left under my command, and a quarter of them are wounded in some way. Sir, I may lose more if the infirmary doesn't get power."
"Engineers are doing their damndest, Captain."
"Commander, Lieutenant Scourch is requesting your presence on the bridge. He found something that shouldn't even be possible." Alyx surprised them over the speakers.
Chills were sent up Shawn's spine. "If the Covvies found us, I'll hunt down whatever god there is after I die." He thought.
"Captain, Major, you're coming with me." He said, opening the door to the galley.
Six Minutes Prior
Back in the bridge, Lieutenant Scourch stared at his monitor with a confused look.
"No that can't be right, is it? No way, slipspace isn't that fast. Alyx." He requested the AI's presence.
"Yes Lieutenant?"
"I want you to double check my findings, it's not showing us in any known systems. In fact, it doesn't even show us in the Milky Way all together." He explained.
His fellow officers stopped what they were doing and turned and stared at him. Alyx hummed as she scanned the data in Lieutenant Shin's terminal.
"Lieutenant, the data is correct. According to the star - chart, we are no longer in the Milky Way. It'll take some time to calculate where we exactly are. I recommend you share this data with the Commander, let me go get him."
"Y - yeah." Scourch said in a shaky voice, amplifying his British accent. "And… try to find out if anything picked up the distress signal."
"Good idea Lieutenant. I'll divert some processing power." Alyx said before disappearing.
"No way, no fucking way." Brown began panicking. "We didn't just jump from Reach and out of the damn galaxy. Slipspace drives don't have that ability."
"Maybe it's just an error. There's no satellites around, right?" Chen tried suggesting.
"Alyx being wrong? I'd bet my chances fighting a split - lip in hand to hand before she's wrong. I mean she's a literal supercomputer, no way she's wrong." Burns rejected.
"I appreciate the compliment." The A.I. in question said over the speakers. "Commander Shawn is on his way with Captain Mariah and Major Frank. He's nervous to say the least." She warned the bridge crew.
"Ok. Thanks Alyx." Scourch replied.
"What the hell man? How can you act so calm when we're in a situation that's never happened before?" Brown asked. "Where the hell are we? How did we get here? Can we go home? Those are the questions I want answers to."
Scourch closed his eyes and took a deep breath to steady himself, the red fluorescent lights spinning like a pair of dancers. "I think we're all scared Mark, but right now we need to think about why this happened, and more importantly, how we reverse it."
"And how we break it to the rest of the crew." Chen interjected. "They'll want to know about this, surely."
"The Marines will react god knows how. How many of them died trying to get on the ship? And now we're just gonna tell them 'Hey your friends died a few hours ago and now we're in another galaxy'?" Brown sarcastically replied.
"No, what I'm suggesting is we tell the Captain and let her decide how to break the news to her men. Our jobs right now are just to present the information when the Commander arrives."
As if on schedule, the door to the bridge hissed as it opened revealing the three commanding officers of the forces onboard. Scourch's eyes met with Shawns as the older man jogged over to his terminal.
"Lieutenant, Alyx gave me some strange news. Show me."
Scourch opened a map containing the area surrounding the Excadia. None of the stars and planets within a few lightyears matched any overlaid star charts. Shawn narrowed his eyes and his brow furrowed with a confused look.
"Lieutenant, mind explaining to me what I'm looking at?"
"That's the thing sir, we only have an idea. None of the star's alignment matches with any solar positions within the Milky Way." Scorch breathed heavily, the hot air affecting his lungs. "The closest match we have are approximate positions in the Andromeda Galaxy, but until the power is back on and we launch a satellite, we're still relatively in the dark."
"How many do we have on board?"
"Three being held in the starboard hangar."
"Hmph. Lieutenant Burns, get a pelican on standby and have engineers attach one of our satellites for manual release."
"Aye sir." Burns responded, turning back to face his terminal.
"Alyx, what's the status of the reactor?" Shawn requested and asked the A.I.
"It's at seventy four percent and rising. I'm estimating another fifteen minutes before I can flush out the radiation without causing further damage to the reactor and thirty six minutes before complete reactivation." She answered.
"Alright." Shawn said. "Has anything, or thing, picked up our distress signal? If we really are in unknown space, I want a bead on anything that can pick up radio waves."
"Lieutenant Scourch already had me on it." Alyx replied. "I actually received a feedback message. It's a garbled mess of some unknown script which I'm trying to decipher without any luck. Whatever language this is, it's not human nor is it Covenant."
"Oh for the love of god. Alyx, please tell me we're not going to face another first contact scenario." Shawn pleaded.
"I'm afraid so." She 'sighed'.
"Dammit!" He bursted out, turning to the two Marine officers. "Both of you get your men into defensive positions around the ship to repel any boarding actions. Judging by how our last first contact went, I'm not exactly eager to have another. I don't want to see some slimy alien fuck on my ship." Shawn ordered, xenophobia coursing through his words.
Mariah and Frank simply nodded before turning on their heels and jogging out of the bridge. Turning back to his command staff, Shawn proceeded to get whatever he could on his ship combat ready.
"Lieutenant Burns, get our sorties in the air and cancel that satellite carepackage. Brown, try warming up the MAC. If it uses too much reserve power, focus on the point defense and missile systems. Alyx, get those engineers going as fast as they can, the last thing we need is to be caught with our pants down." He ordered.
A series of short flashes lit up on Scourch's terminal. Looking at them, he went wide - eyed.
"Sir, I'm getting FTL radiation readings, but it's not normal. They're low beyond anything I've seen before and traveling at a constant rate."
"What? How's that even possible? Everyone knows slipspace drives always have radiation spikes and crashes."
"I have a theory." Alyx chimes in. "The only way an object can maintain those statistics of speed and radiation levels in FTL is if it's moving at the speed of light. However, it is far - fetched because science has always shown that anything traveling closer towards the speed of light would simply crumple before becoming light."
"We'll whatever it is, it's close. It's two light years out and counting, and my best guess before it's right in front of us would be four minutes tops." Scourch warned.
"Alyx, get those engineers working as fast as they can because right now all of our lives depend on them!" Shawn shouted at the holotable.
"They're doing the best they can, pushing them any harder would have hazardous consequences. We're about seven minutes from being able to flush the reactor and get half power." She replied.
"We don't have seven minutes." Shawn exclaimed, getting into his chair. "Alyx, get everyone currently not in the loop into battlestations."
"Aye Commander." Her voice said.
An recognizable alarm began blaring all throughout the ship, the heat and red lights further emphasizing its importance. The bridge officers spoke in turns back and forth between one another. That was until they were interrupted by Alyx once more.
"Commander, engineers have been able to stabilize the reactor by eighty five percent and I'm flushing out the excess radiation. However, following that, there was a sudden increase in radioactivity more so than what was leaked. I believe something is about to show up."
"Scourch, do you have a positive I.D. on Alyx's report?" Shawn asked.
"One second. . . aye sir. It's coming from our starboard side, roughly two hundred thousand klicks out and rapidly increasing radiation signatures."
"Dammit." Shawn thought to himself. "Ok. Lieutenant Shin, get the UNSC first contact protocol and messages ready. I'm sure we're about to have to use it for a second time in humanity's lifespan."
Hyperspace, Venator - Class Star Destroyer Resolute
20 BBY
Admiral Wullf Yularen and Jedi General Anakin Skywalker stiff side by side staring out into the bright blue sea of hyperspace. Behind them, Captain Rex and Ashoka Tano were leaning over a holotable playing the distress signal they had received from the unknown ship made worse by it having no standard galactic identifications. Whoever or whatever was on this ship definitely wasn't a part of the Republic, so where it currently stood, it was a Seperatist trap.
"So why use something so arbitrarily complex like this if they just want to lure us into a trap?" Ashoka asked.
"I'm not sure, but due to the uniqueness of the signal, it instantly had the general hooked. He said he didn't have any bad feelings about this so it's good enough for me." Rex leaned in a little closer. "The thing is, you and I know exactly how sometimes his feelings betray him."
Ashoka smirked at his remark before looking over to Anakin. "Well considering this is a special case of 'good feelings', I think we'll be ok. I still don't get this signal though. Why not use Aurebesh, or at the very least use basic correctly?"
"We'll whatever it is, we'll find it soon enough." Rex said, getting off the holotable and walking towards Anakin. "General." Rex introduced with a salute.
"Ahh Rex, have you come to enjoy the view with Admiral Yularen and I?" Anakin teased the clone.
"No sir. It's that Ashoka and I still can't make heads or tails of this signal. It sounds like a normal distress signal, but the spelling is made up of some seriously broken basic and the supposed I.D. tags it uses doesn't show up on any record in the last several thousand years."
"We'll, I'm sure we'll know soon enough once we leave hyperspace. Speaking of which, Admiral, would you mind looking at how long of a journey we have left?"
"Of course." Wullf replied, walking to one of the navigation clone officers.
"This whole situation is just plain strange."
"C'mon Rex. Do you really doubt me that much on this?"
"No sir, not at all. Ashoka and I just want answers."
"As do I, Rex. As do I."
"General Skywalker. I'm happy to report that we have two minutes before we drop out of hyperspace and meet our mysterious assistance seeker." Wullf said, walking back into peripheral view of the two men.
"Good. Get engineering and medical teams on standby, they said they have wounded and their reactor's shot."
"As you wish, General." Wullf complied.
A slow chug was felt across the Resolute as it decelerated out of hyperspace. Once the intoxicating blue lights of the FTL blinked out of existence, in its place lay a floating gray, boxy, rectangular, ship basking in the light of the nearby star. It slowly tilted in seemingly no direction almost like it had no stabilizers. As the side came more into view, a clear makeup of some seriously broken basic was written on the hull.
"UNSC Excadia. What's that?" Anakin thought.
"What in Corellia is that thing General?" Rex asked.
"I've got no clue. I've never seen anything like it, it's so. . ." Anakin drifted, unsure how to put the ship into words.
"Blocky? Rough? Ugly?" Ashoka suggested, walking up to the trio of men standing in front of the viewport.
"Yeah, let's go with that, Snips." Anakin agreed. "Try hailing them and send out those aid teams. Someone's gotta be alive if they sent a distress call."
Hospital and engineering support ships began powering up their engines as the center of the Resolute's hull opened up allowing them to take off. Anakin leaned closer to the glass and extended out a hand trying to feel for any lifesigns aboard using the force. What he got instead was a bunch of gray static feedback which, in short terms, meant nothing in the force.
Anakin stepped back and blinked a few times and looked between both his hands and the Excadia. "What… what was that? Why did I feel nothing? I would have surely sensed death if the entire crew was gone and life if they were still alive but helpless. I need to report this to the counsel."
"What do you mean master?" Ashoka asked.
"I tried reaching through the force to feel if whoever was on that ship was still alive and felt nothing; not life nor death." He explained.
"Let me try." She offered, committing to the same act as Anakin.
Not even a moment later she deeply inhaled and exhaled rapidly while blinking. "How can that be? Everything is connected to the force in some way."
"I don't know Ashoka, but this situation just became something more. Admiral Yularen, get a shuttle ready for Rex and I. We're heading over."
"As you wish General Skywalker."
"And what about me?" Ashoka asked.
"You can come along if you want. But be on your guard, we don't know if this ship will be friendly or not." Anakin warned.
UNSC Excadia Bridge
Date: Unknown, Time: Unknown, Year: 2552?
"Sir, multiple ships have been launched from that triangular vessel and we're receiving a transmission." Chen reported.
"Alyx, lock our point defense on those ships, but hold fire. Open the transmission." Shawn ordered.
Chen nodded and brought it up on the holotable. Before Shawn stood the glowing blue hologram of a, surprisingly, human male with long hair and a scar over his right eye wearing some kind of leather uniform and a glove covering his left hand.
"This is Admiral Shawn Green of the UNSC Excadia. Identify yourself immediately."
"Broadcasting standard messages is a no - go sir. We can only receive incoming ones due to our current situation." Chen let him know.
"Fucking great." Shawn mumbled.
"Hello. Hello? Is anyone onboard this 'Excadia'? I'm General Anakin Skywalker on the Republic vessel Resolute. We received your distress signal and are here to help. We've just launched support ships to assist you in repairing your reactor and tending to the wounded. If you can hear me, please respond."
Shawn grunted. "Alyx, how much longer until we can have at least half power? I want to make sure this guy can hear me."
"About forty five seconds. I've finished flushing out excess radiation and the reactor's been stabilized. I'm currently working on rebooting what systems I can." She responded.
"Thank god. Ok, send orders to any Marines stationed in the hangars to be on their guard. If these ships are really meant to assist us, we'll accept the help of this Republic General." He reluctantly ordered. "If it's a trick, they have permission to open fire."
"I say again, does anyone onboard read me? . . . Ugh. If anyones there, my second in command and I are heading over to meet you personally. Good luck, Anakin out."
The transmission abruptly ended as the hologram of the man who introduced himself as General Anakin Skywalker faded. Shawn and his bridge crew stared at the holotable dumbfounded and confused at the course of action this General was taking.
"I'm sorry, but did he just say he's coming over here sir?" Brown asked, still unsure of how to process that final message.
"I'm damn sure he is. What the hell is he thinking? Boarding both himself and his XO onto an unknown and potentially hostile vessel? Either he's lost his mind or he knows something we don't. Either way, how long until those support ships arrive. If he's really telling the truth, then those ships are either a gift from god or care package from hell."
"How should we respond to him coming over?" Burns asked. "Surely, or rather hopefully, this is a peaceful diplomatic occurrence. We need someone to act as a representative of the UNSC. We've already established we're not in the Milky Way anymore so we're possibly the only ones here that can represent UEG and UNSC interests. At the very least, secure some right of passage or something." He went on to suggest.
Shawn sighed. "And so naturally that responsibility should fall to me. I don't want to risk any of your lives, so I'm going to be the one to try to secure some sort of diplomatic standing."
Before anyone could respond, the red lights, blaring alarms, and dry heat suddenly went dark. A few seconds later, the natural blue fluorescent lights of the ship powered on and cool air began blowing throughout the frigate.
To those on the Resolute, the exterior flood lights suddenly flashed on and the ship began reorienting itself, pointing right at the Republic Venator - Class causing a bit of a scramble to understand what was going on.
Shawn looked up and closed his eyes as the sweat on his face began to cool and blow off. "Couldn't have been better timed." He commented, getting up and heading out of the bridge. "Scourch, you again have the bridge."
"Aye sir. Good luck." Scourch replied as the most important man on the ship walked out of the bridge, flanked by the two ODSTs standing guard.
The support ships from the Resolute finally neared the Excadia's three hangar bays. They were tailed by the four Pelicans and two Longsword fighters that had, until now, been unable to establish communications making an uneasy standoff between the more heavily armored UNSC and lightly armored support ships.
As the Pelicans and Longswords guided the five support ships into the hangars, three going into the rear main and once going to each smaller side hangar, the Republic support ships landed and were immediately surrounded by Marines on high states of readiness.
The elevator leading to the galley that leads throughout the ship began lowering with Commander Shawn and his two guards now followed by Captain Mariah and Major Frank. As they reached the bottom of the hangar floor, another ship, this one looking drastically different from the rest, made its slow descent into the hangar.
Shawn walked over to it and stood waiting. The ship that could best be described as a fat bird with a pair of bulbous glass turrets jetting out the sides. The side doors opened and out stepped five individuals: General Skywalker and a female alien, flanked by three white armored soldiers.
The Marines surrounding Shawn tensed up upon seeing the female and the Commander himself fixed his hat and stood at parade rest. The three soldiers held their weapons low, with the most decorated wielding a pair of pistols.
The support ships also opened their bay doors and several more white armored soldiers exited with various types of armor and symbols, the most recognizable of which being red crosses meaning medics.
"General Skywalker, I am Commander Shawn Green of the UNSC Excadia. We have a lot to discuss about my ship and crew's current and unfortunate situation." Shawn began, glancing at his men and introducing himself to Anakin.
Author's Note: And that is chapter 1 of my Star Wars / Halo crossover. Hope you guys enjoyed it. And please, do check out my other works, I promise you won't be disappointed.